The NFL has long held ambitions to expand its presence beyond the United States.
America’s favorite sport has grown its footprint internationally over the last two decades. The NFL has visited London for the International series since 2007 and a trio of games were played in October including the six-time Super Bowl winners New England Patriots against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley to round things off in style.
The London soccer team, Tottenham Hotspur, hosted the first two games of the autumn 2024 series.
The Premier League club instigated the first purpose-built NFL stadium outside of America. Many of the pre-2020 NFL games in London were sellouts, with an average attendance of over 80,000.
The actual TV viewership in the UK has doubled over the past decade, with matches becoming very popular on channels like Sky Sports.
Europe on the Horizon?
However, to truly capitalize on the market, something more concrete has to be embedded. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has already stated that England’s capital could sustain multiple franchises as part of a potential four-team European division.
In 2022, gridiron came to Munich and the game between the Seattle Seahawks and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers held at the Allianz Arena, Bayern Munich’s home was a huge success.
The Carolina Panthers and the New York Giants will play there in November.
Over 100,000 people attended the two 2023 NFL games at Deutsche Bank Park in Frankfurt between the Miami Dolphins and the Kaiser City Chiefs, and the Indianapolis Colts and the New England Patriots.
The games were watched by 18 million worldwide and Germany’s RTL pulled in over 1.5 million.
Europe is buzzing but that franchise idea needs more plugging. The problems in challenging traditional culture and established sports like soccer are demystified with European broadcasting deals that help to present to the local audience in “their” language.
Real Madrid’s iconic Bernabeu Stadium will host a regular season clash in 2025.
What’s trending?
Merchandise sales are certainly not an issue according to a Google Trends survey.
Searches for “NFL shop Europe” spiked 240% outside the U.S. The reality is that international fans feel invested enough to purchase apparel for American football teams and players.
Unsurprisingly, the Kansas City Chiefs, who dominate NFL lines after their perfect start to the season, were top of the list. Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and non-playing Taylor Swift have all given American football another surge across global continents.
Future Investment
In March, the NFL Global Markets Program, which permits NFL clubs marketing rights outside the U.S. to increase brand awareness and fan bases, expanded to five new territories.
Among those granted rights were the New York Giants in Germany, the Indianapolis Colts in Austria and Germany and also the Cleveland Browns in Nigeria.
Africa is a potentially huge market. In fact, the NFL Africa Program held a talent identification event in Lagos over three days in June supported by Cleveland. This follows on from similar festivals in Ghana, Kenya, and Cape Town.
The league is certainly assisting with the growth in Nigeria by recruiting more African players from the continent. Over half of NFL players are of African-American descent so the possibilities of a breakthrough exist.
The NFL generated $20.5 billion in 2023 Community engagement across all regions is also key in developing the fundamentals of a world market that is closer to the target of $25 million revenue.
There are an estimated 36 million NFL fans in Brazil and it hosted its first game in September between the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers.
Brazil is only behind Canada and Mexico in terms of international fan bases too. Wisely, the powers that be have been preparing the ground there by putting games on free-to-air TV and streaming platforms.
An NFL office will open soon in South America’s largest country in line with other established locations.
The ticket sales annually for international games are impressive with ex-US buyers purchasing 41% more NFL tickets on Stubhub and Viagogo than around the same period in 2023.
Commissioner Goodell says that the aim is to play 16 games internationally per year.
The NFL’s burgeoning relationship with Netflix, which will air two games on Christmas Day, looks to be a likely source of future success in terms of access and adds to the streaming footprint.
Netflix also aired the Eagles and Packers game in Sao Paulo. The Sunday morning window would be a lucrative media rights package scenario.
There is certainly an international appetite for the NFL even though the complexities of the game, the time zone broadcast issues for scheduling and the lack of non-American participants in the main league might still be significant hurdles.
A game overseas in most weeks of the season still requires a huge investment and that’s the touchdown to throw for.
Which Markets Do the NFL Still Need to Dominate?
The NFL has long held ambitions to expand its presence beyond the United States.
America’s favorite sport has grown its footprint internationally over the last two decades. The NFL has visited London for the International series since 2007 and a trio of games were played in October including the six-time Super Bowl winners New England Patriots against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley to round things off in style.
The London soccer team, Tottenham Hotspur, hosted the first two games of the autumn 2024 series.
The Premier League club instigated the first purpose-built NFL stadium outside of America. Many of the pre-2020 NFL games in London were sellouts, with an average attendance of over 80,000.
The actual TV viewership in the UK has doubled over the past decade, with matches becoming very popular on channels like Sky Sports.
Europe on the Horizon?
However, to truly capitalize on the market, something more concrete has to be embedded. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has already stated that England’s capital could sustain multiple franchises as part of a potential four-team European division.
In 2022, gridiron came to Munich and the game between the Seattle Seahawks and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers held at the Allianz Arena, Bayern Munich’s home was a huge success.
The Carolina Panthers and the New York Giants will play there in November.
Over 100,000 people attended the two 2023 NFL games at Deutsche Bank Park in Frankfurt between the Miami Dolphins and the Kaiser City Chiefs, and the Indianapolis Colts and the New England Patriots.
The games were watched by 18 million worldwide and Germany’s RTL pulled in over 1.5 million.
Europe is buzzing but that franchise idea needs more plugging.
The problems in challenging traditional culture and established sports like soccer are demystified with European broadcasting deals that help to present to the local audience in “their” language. Real Madrid’s iconic Bernabeu Stadium will host a regular season clash in 2025.
What’s trending?
Merchandise sales are certainly not an issue according to a Google Trends survey.
Searches for “NFL shop Europe” spiked 240% outside the U.S. The reality is that international fans feel invested enough to purchase apparel for American football teams and players.
Unsurprisingly, the Kansas City Chiefs, who dominate NFL lines after their perfect start to the season, were top of the list.
Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and non-playing Taylor Swift have all given American football another surge across global continents.
Future Investment
In March, the NFL Global Markets Program, which permits NFL clubs marketing rights outside the U.S. to increase brand awareness and fan bases, expanded to five new territories.
Among those granted rights were the New York Giants in Germany, the Indianapolis Colts in Austria and Germany and also the Cleveland Browns in Nigeria.
Africa is a potentially huge market. In fact, the NFL Africa Program held a talent identification event in Lagos over three days in June supported by Cleveland. This follows on from similar festivals in Ghana, Kenya, and Cape Town.
The league is certainly assisting with the growth in Nigeria by recruiting more African players from the continent. Over half of NFL players are of African-American descent so the possibilities of a breakthrough exist.
The NFL generated $20.5 billion in 2023 Community engagement across all regions is also key in developing the fundamentals of a world market that is closer to the target of $25 million revenue.
There are an estimated 36 million NFL fans in Brazil and it hosted its first game in September between the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers. Brazil is only behind Canada and Mexico in terms of international fan bases too.
Wisely, the powers that be have been preparing the ground there by putting games on free-to-air TV and streaming platforms. An NFL office will open soon in South America’s largest country in line with other established locations.
The ticket sales annually for international games are impressive with ex-US buyers purchasing 41% more NFL tickets on Stubhub and Viagogo than around the same period in 2023.
Commissioner Goodell says that the aim is to play 16 games internationally per year.
The NFL’s burgeoning relationship with Netflix, which will air two games on Christmas Day, looks to be a likely source of future success in terms of access and adds to the streaming footprint.
Netflix also aired the Eagles and Packers game in Sao Paulo. The Sunday morning window would be a lucrative media rights package scenario.
There is certainly an international appetite for the NFL even though the complexities of the game, the time zone broadcast issues for scheduling and the lack of non-American participants in the main league might still be significant hurdles.
A game overseas in most weeks of the season still requires a huge investment and that’s the touchdown to throw for.
