The National Football League is potentially planning to increase its presence internationally by hosting regular season games outside of North America and London.
In addition to exploring Mexico potentially hosting a regular season game in the not-so-distant future, the NFL is looking into the possibility that Germany may find itself playing host.
“The work we’re doing now is to ask, ‘How do we accelerate the agenda in Mexico, Canada and China?'” said Mark Waller, NFL EVP, International. “Those would be our next stage, and we have offices in those three countries. And then, after those, where should be our focus? I think we’ve concluded that Brazil and Germany are the next two frontier markets, which is where the Pro Bowl idea comes from.”
We previously reported on the idea that Brazil could host the 2017 Pro Bowl, which would come one year after the country hosts the Olympics.
There’s no question that American football has grown leaps and bounds on an international level. The annual games at London’s Wembley Stadium continue to draw sellouts and have remained popular in one of the continent’s westernmost capitals.
These plans may be just the start. Mark Waller, the league’s top international executive, also indicated that plans are still solid regarding London hosting a NFL team full-time by the year 2022.
As if the NFL needed to corner other markets in the world, the globalization of the league could set in motion a power play that we have never seen in North America. Already a sport that transcends entertainment, these new plans could help make American football the most widely known sport around the globe.
Photo: USA Today