American football’s NFL has unveiled an expansion of its global markets program, adding the countries of Argentina, Colombia, Nigeria, South Korea, and Japan, as well as four new teams.
In those nations, international marketing rights have been awarded to the Miami Dolphins (Argentina and Colombia), Los Angeles Rams (Japan and South Korea), and Cleveland Browns (Nigeria).
In addition to this quintet of new markets, four teams who had not previously been on the overall program (launched in 2022) have been added for 2024 - the Browns, the Detroit Lions, the Indianapolis Colts, and the New York Giants.
Essentially, international marketing rights mean allocated clubs can pursue activities in that country “consistent with what they can do in their home market.”
Aside from the Browns in Nigeria, the Lions now hold rights across Austria, Germany, Switzerland, and Canada, the Colts in Austria and Germany, and the Giants make their debut in Germany.
In total, the NFL’s global markets program will include 25 teams participating across 19 countries this year.
Approval for this expansion has been granted by the league’s international committee following the 2024 annual NFL meeting in Orlando, Florida.
As well as the new markets and entirely new teams to have been added to the program, six sides already enrolled have acquired new markets - the Rams and Dolphins as detailed above, as well as the New England Patriots (Brazil), New York Jets (Ireland), Pittsburgh Steelers (Germany), and Seattle Seahawks (Germany, Austria, and Switzerland).
Clubs can apply to be part of the program each season and are allocated rights for at least five campaigns.
In terms of the markets which share the most franchises, the most popular countries are Austria, Germany, Mexico, Switzerland, and the UK.
The teams with the most areas assigned to them, meanwhile, are the Rams and Dolphins (six each).
Peter O’Reilly, the NFL’s executive vice president for club business, major events, and international, said: “The momentum of the global markets program underscores the strong commitment of NFL clubs to growing the game and their passionate fan bases around the world. Clubs are seeing the value and opportunity in new markets and aligning with the league to accelerate that growth together,”
Regular season NFL international fixtures are this year to be held in London (UK), Munich (Germany), and Sao Paulo (Brazil) - five in total, with three in the UK. Home teams for those games were announced in January.
In 2023, the global markets program - in its second year - grew from 19 franchises to 21, in step with the expansion of the number of international games, and the number of markets too increased from 10 to 14.
Last month, meanwhile, the NFL announced that it would host a regular-season game in the Spanish capital of Madrid in 2025. The game is set to be played at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium, home of iconic soccer club Real Madrid.
The Bears and Dolphins are currently the NFL franchises allocated Spain via the global marketing program.
Spain will become the fifth country outside of the US to host an NFL game as part of the International Series after Mexico, the UK, Germany, and Brazil.
Read how the Jets are looking to significantly ramp up their UK presence, through an interview with the team’s vice president of finance, John MacCarter.
