The International Growth of the NFL
The NFL has been trying to expand its brand to international fans for years. The first NFL game not played in the United States occurred in 2005, the 49ers faced off against the Cardinals at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. Two years later in 2007, the NFL launched the International Series. The details of the series consisted of one regular-season game being played in Wembley Stadium each year from 2007-2012.
Photo by: Terrell Lloyd/49ers
Fast forward to 2012, the Jacksonville Jaguars agreed to play one game at Wembley Stadium from 2013-2016. In 2016, the NFL also returned to Mexico and started playing games in Estadio Azteca again. In 2019, the Raiders and Bears played the first NFL game in the brand-new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. This stadium will host two games each season for 10 years as a part of a deal with the NFL.
Photo by: NFL
As the years have gone on the NFL has continued to expand across seas. Prior to this year, the Buccaneers and Seahawks played the first NFL regular-season game in Germany last year in 2022. This game was played at Bayern Munich’s Allianz Arena. This upcoming season, the NFL plans to have the Dolphins play the Chiefs in Frankfurt, Germany. This is a great move by the NFL since this allows an international audience to see numerous stars such as Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce, and most importantly the NFL’s golden child, Patrick Mahomes. To say German fans were excited for this game is an understatement. Tickets for the game sold out in only 15 minutes. This achievement shows that the NFL is growing its brand in Germany at an impressive rate. With a shortage of tickets this quickly, the league will continue to market the sport to German fans. In the next couple of years, I would like to see NFL games played in Paris. Now that would be exciting to see.
Photo by: Sebastian Widmann/Getty Images
