The NFL’s Global Ambition: the Endgame of Playing Games in Europe

The league is thinking with a more international focus. But is the end goal to have bigger games overseas or something much greater?

It is no secret that the NFL envisions American Football as a sport with global popularity potential. Its ambitions across the Atlantic can be traced back to 1974 with the failed Intercontinental Football League. Future iterations of a global football league would continue to surface, with the final attempt being the now defunct NFL Europe. The NFL quickly realized that in an ever-changing media landscape, remaining confined to the United States was a mistake. And ever since then they have been trying to capture the European market.

Its latest attempt to win over the eyeballs of Europeans and other international audiences is through its International Series of games. What started as one game per season in London has morphed into multiple games in London and Germany this season (5 total games). These games have been successful, attracting attendance numbers similar to an average NFL game (77K average attendance in International games versus 69K average across NFL games played in the US). But one has to wonder, what is the end game of the NFL continuing to push its product in Europe. Could it be more games of significance or maybe even a team relocating across the pond?