2025 is panning out to be the NFL’s most successful internationally, hosting a record number of five international series regular season games.
There has been a major focus from NFL officials to significantly expand its global reach into existing markets, such as London, and now new markets with regular season games set to be hosted at Ireland’s Croke Park in Dublin and the Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid, Spain.
Speaking to Insider Sport to reveal the internationalisation strategy of the NFL, Henry Hodgson, NFL Head of UK and Ireland, stated that the league is aiming to become a “truly global sport”.
Hodgson discussed his experience down in New Orleans, Louisiana at Super Bowl LIX recently and what major sports competitions can continue to learn from the NFL’s premier game.
With the NFL playing in “more new markets than ever before” this season, he outlines that this is an important facet of the global sports strategy that dates back to 2007 with the first games in London, and why the league continues to make it a fair process for teams and fans.
Many NFL teams have global marketing rights for different markets, with the Jacksonville Jaguars making London its second home as an example of how franchises have embedded their culture into their relevant communities over the years.
Growing adoption at youth levels
The introduction of flag football to schools across the UK, for example, has also been a key strategy for the NFL to increase the adoption of the sport and general interest in the NFL, which Hodgson went into detail on.
Whilst the NBA has a litany of international superstars, with many of them regarded as the best players in the league, Hodgson revealed that this would ideally be the next step for the NFL as part of growing adoption across international territories to create the next franchise players, highlighting Jordan Mailata of the Philadelphia Eagles as an example of what is possible.
Hodgson also went into detail of what went into the process of choosing Dublin and Madrid as the next two markets to host regular season games, as well as giving an answer to whether international franchises will be established and if NFL Europe would be making a return.
