By: Ava Marzolf
January 29, 2025
Photo Credit: BBC Sport UK
The NFL’s international expansion efforts are pushing the boundaries of American football. The league’s growing investment in hosting more international games along with its desire to pursue international media rights packages and corporate partnerships will further grow its global fanbase
In the early days of international expansion from 2007-2012, London hosted one game each season. Amidst the international schedule’s expansion to Germany, Brazil, and Mexico, London has still hosted the most international games, with three out of the five international games during the 2024 season having taken place in London.
The upcoming 2025 season has an eight-game international series, up from five this past season. Once again, three of these games will occur in London, as the Jacksonville Jaguars, Cleveland Browns, and New York Jets will be a part of the London games this year at Wembley Stadium. The Jaguars have the most significant ties to London, having played in London every season since 2013 through a series of renewed agreements with the NFL and Wembley Stadium. The dynamics of this partnership stem from Jacksonville’s owner, Shad Khan, also being owner of the English Premier League team Fulham F.C. The rights agreement will be extended after this season, with the Jaguars playing in London for two consecutive weeks for the second season in a row.
According to a recent article from the NFL previewing the lineup for the 2025 London Games, “The London games are a continued catalyst for year-round fan engagement and we are focused on serving our 15 million fans, reaching new communities and driving growth in flag football participation, which now sees over 100,000 young people play the game." Recognizing the profitability of the NFL, nations overseas are becoming inspired to pursue their own initiatives to assimilate American football into their own cultures and foster growth of the sport at both the participatory and spectator levels.
For individual franchises, participating in international games creates immense opportunity to attract a more diverse fanbase and grow their brand internationally. This exposure can be especially powerful and rewarding for small market teams striving to grow their popularity and boost fan engagement.
International expansion progress has opened conversations aimed at potential negotiations for a new media rights package exclusively broadcasting international games that could generate an additional $1 billion in rights fees. Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, and Apple were noted as ideal candidates for broadcasting rights of the international slate. A Sunday morning package would offer game broadcasts between 9:30am-1:00pm ET.
Although this would be rewarding for league profitability and overseas exposure, it could be troublesome for fans who want to watch these games but may have to pay for a separate streaming subscription. The future of sports media broadcasts is significantly shifting towards streaming services, an international media rights deal becoming the sixth broadcast package of regular season games would certainly segment NFL viewership even further.
In the bigger picture, international expansion has become an essential component to the marketing strategies of major professional leagues in the US. The MLB World Tour this past season consisted of four international series in Seoul, Mexico City, London, and the Dominican Republic. To kick off the 2025 season, the Dodgers and Cubs will face off in the Tokyo Series at the Tokyo Dome. Similar efforts are being made in the NBA, where the Indiana Pacers and the San Antonio Spurs will compete in the 2025 Paris Games on January 23rd and 25th. This commonality highlights the extent to which the world is becoming increasingly interconnected through professional sport.
Looking to the future, league commissioner Roger Goodell has revealed his long-term visions of an international slate of 16 games, aiming to include more cities around the world such as Paris, Dublin, and even as far as Sydney. There are even talks of foreign cities getting their own NFL teams, as well as a potential international Super Bowl in the future, most likely in London.
Football has always been uniquely American, but will this distinction begin to fade over the next decade? As the number of international games and host cities continue to increase, the NFL’s commitment to worldwide growth has become a thriving initiative, in turn, revolutionizing the game of football into a global appeal.
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