American football superfan from Leeds spends £20k to set new world record by watching a match in all 31 NFL stadiums in just 84 days

A British fan of American football has spent £20,000 to set a new world record - by watching a match in all 31 NFL stadiums in just 84 days.
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Jacob Barnor, 25, hopped on and off 27 planes and travelled an astounding 36,000 miles in under three months - the equivalent of going around the earth one and a half times.

The epic journey was paid for with money Jacob had originally saved up to spend on a house deposit.

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His journey began in Chicago at Soldier Field on September 5 and ended in Atlanta at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium last Thursday (28/11).

Jacob BarnorJacob Barnor
Jacob Barnor

The sports trader from Leeds, West Yorks, said: "The trip was absolutely insane, it was even more fun than I thought it would be.

"I went to the most amazing places and made so many new friends all over country, I would do it all again in a heartbeat."

San Francisco 49ers supporter Jacob came up with the idea to break the record of 'time taken to watch a match at every NFL stadium' last year.

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"I had saved up for a house deposit but when the idea to do this instead came to me I just couldn't say no," he said.

Jacob BarnorJacob Barnor
Jacob Barnor

"I thought to myself, 'in ten years' time do I want to look back and think that's something I could have done?'

"Or do I want to look back and say, 'that was the coolest thing I have ever done?'.

"I couldn't be happier I decided to go ahead and do it, I've made memories that money can't buy."

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Jacob first got into American football a decade ago and in the years since he has played for teams in Yorkshire and his university side in Birmingham.

Unfortunately he's had to stop playing now after suffering a string of injuries.

In order to claim the Guinness World Record (GWR) Jacob has sent of pictures and video from every stadium to official adjudicators to analyse.

He also used a GPS tracker to log exactly where he went over the course of the three months and that data has been sent to GWR HQ too.

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Jacob believes the record, which beat the previous best time by two days, should be made official within the next weeks.

Even though there are 32 NFL teams Jacob only had to visit 31 stadiums, as the New York Giants and the New York Jets share the MetLife Stadium.

However, he did watch both sides play a home game there.

At the final game of his journey, Jacob was presented with a ticket to next year's Super Bowl in Miami by the Atlanta Falcons CEO.

That means he will be flying back across the pond in February for the big game.

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"I had no idea whatsoever I was going to get the ticket, I couldn't believe it when the CEO handed it to me, I was amazed," Jacob said.

"The 49ers are having a good season so hopefully they can make it to the Super Bowl, that would be incredible."

Jacob, who works for betting firm William Hill and was allowed to take unpaid leave for the trip, said the stadium he was most impressed with was the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, which plays home to the New Orleans Saints.

One venue that he won't be rushing back to is FedExField in Washington DC, because it was "terrible weather and half empty".

Jacob's favourite city of the lot was Chicago, but he also visited New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, Seattle, Denver, Philadelphia and dozens more.