The NFL continues to expand its game internationally.
In a statement this morning, the NFL’s International Committee announced four new International Home Marketing Areas (IHMA) for the Los Angeles Rams and Philadelphia Eagles.
The Rams were approved to set up an IHMA in New Zealand while the Eagles were given access to Australia, New Zealand, and Ghana.
Ghana is the first African country to have an NFL club get access for a Home Marketing Area. The league has announced that they will host their first few events in Africa starting in June, with the organization looking to stretch it’s blueprint across the globe.
The International Committee launched their IHMA program in January of this year and now has 19 different teams with access to over 10 different countries.
The IHMA program “grants NFL clubs access to international territories for marketing, fan engagement and commercialization as part of an important, long-term, strategic effort to enable clubs to build their global brands while driving NFL fan growth internationally.”
As part of the beginning of this program, NFL teams also announced many of their Day 3 draft picks last April from an international location including Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, and even Frankfurt.
This is the not the first few steps for the NFL looking to increase their overall brand international.
The league actually appointed Charlotte Offord as a General Manager to NFL Australia to increase the business in both Australia and New Zealand.
With the intended increase of the IHMA program, the increase in team brands and increase international intrigue in the league could lead to more international games in the future.
In fact, for the 2022 season alone, the NFL will be playing games in Mexico City, London, and Munich, Germany. With a strong relationship in Australia, New Zealand, and even Africa, the intrigue of more international games will grow as time goes on. It also helps that the league has seen an immediate boost in expanding the game internationally.
The new TV deal signed by the NFL generates over $100 billion in revenue that also extends to Australian TV. For Super Bowl LVI, the league’s biggest game attracted the second most viewers for Aussie TV.
The NFL has had a very strong footing in bringing giving International players to make a name for themselves in the league. As part of their International Players Pathway program, some of the league’s best and youngest stars have actually gotten chances because of this.
Efe Obada, a defensive end born in Nigeria but raised in the Netherlands, was the first player to jump from the European League to the NFL.
He has been in the league since 2014.
Perhaps no international player has been as successful as recently as Jordan Mailata of the Philadelphia Eagles. Originally a rugby player in Australia, the IPP program gave Mailata the exposure needed to get a shot in the league in 2018. Mailata was rated as the third-best left tackle in the game last season, and is still under 25-years old.
Football is growing well outside the confines of the United States. It’s clear the league has seen its impact on the game across the globe and is looking to take advantage of that by bringing in players, and gaining millions of fans in the process.
