Inside the NFL's Bid to Become a Global Sports Powerhouse

The league's playbook includes fan engagement, sponsorships, merch and streaming

The NFL intends to become a global sports powerhouse, taking steps to promote the league overseas and put American gridiron action on par with the mass popularity of the NBA and big-time soccer.

To that end, this season, the NFL is playing five games in three of 19 territories across its Global Markets Program:

• Sept. 6 – Green Bay Packers vs. Philadelphia Eagles in Sao Paulo
• Oct. 6 – New York Jets vs. Minnesota Vikings in London
• Oct. 13 – Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Chicago Bears in London
• Oct. 20 – New England Patriots vs. Jacksonville Jaguars in London
• Nov. 10 – New York Giants vs. Carolina Panthers in Munich

During these contests, the NFL teams that are participating—out of 25 all told in the GMP initiative—will activate marketing outreach across Brazil, the U.K. and Germany in various ways. 

GMP launched in 2022 based on research showing that fans in foreign markets engage with the NFL by following a favorite team or player first, and then deepening their involvement over time. GMP was created to enable teams to connect with fans around the world, reach new audiences and grow the game. Those 25 participating clubs now have marketing rights across 19 different international markets. 

Muse chatted with Gerrit Meier, NFL international managing director, about the league’s approach.

MUSE: How are you going to each market to promote the games?

Gerrit Meier: Some teams choose to activate through broadcast and content partnerships with local media channels and platforms, serving fans across the season. Others work with commercial partners or create team-specific merchandise in local markets. You’ll also see fan watch parties, events and player tours.

To promote games in-market, we take a consistent, always-on approach in a host city throughout the year. In the lead-up to the game, we’ll phase activity in-market around key NFL tentpole events. These include team announcements, confirmation of the schedule, fan events, tickets going on-sale, watch parties and retail opportunities. In the weeks before the games, the NFL and teams will typically host fan events, merchandise launches, media and commercial partner activations and team events as ways to engage local and international fans.

Can you talk about opportunities for sponsorships and merchandise as revenue generators?

Looking ahead to our 2024 NFL Game in São Paulo on Sept. 6, we have 14 commercial partners confirmed in Brazil—for both game activations and also year-round. Three of those are local partners based in the Brazil market and 11 are global partners. 

Also, in partnership with Fanatics, we have opened six NFL Shops presented by Visa retail locations in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. We will also unveil retail collaborations to celebrate the game, including one with Anitta, the Brazilian global superstar headlining the São Paulo halftime show. 

How does the streaming landscape play into this?

We work with streaming partners to continue to reach new and younger audiences across the world. With NFL Game Pass on DAZN, international fans can stream all games across the season, as well as NFL tentpole events, getting a wide variety of league content directly.

Additionally, we are working with Netflix to stream select games and furthering partnerships around simulcasts, like the Toy Story simulcast on Disney+ and ESPN+. This is where young fans around the world get introduced to the game. 

In Brazil, for the first-time, we’ve partnered with CazéTV, a streaming and influencer-led platform (across Amazon & YouTube) to engage youth audiences in South America. 

So, this is a long-term NFL commitment?

The NFL will expand their global footprint in the future, playing more international games in new markets and cities around the world. But the strategic focus isn’t just about playing international games. We have offices in six international locations (Australia, Canada, China, Germany, Mexico and the U.K.), working year-round on programs and initiatives to engage fans, reach new audiences and grow the sport at every level.

Does this tie into the International Player Pathway program?

Our global football development programs are driven by a mission to create more opportunities for athletes around the world to find their place in the game. The International Player Pathway program is one of the NFL’s football development initiatives, created to help increase the number of global athletes playing in the NFL. We know that having NFL heroes in local markets—for example, Australian IPP alumni Jordan Mailata of the Philadelphia Eagles—inspires fans in home markets to follow a similar journey in the game.