American football’s growing global ambitions

GEORGE WILLnflnflnflnflBy Jon Fasman, Senior culture correspondent, The Economist, a baseball-loving conservative columnist, once wrote that American football “combines the two worst things about America. It is violence punctuated by committee meetings.” Within America, Mr Will’s opinion is not widely shared: in 2023, 93 of the 100 most-watched television broadcasts were National Football League () games. In the rest of the world, American football remains niche at best, but the is trying to change that. In 2025 the league will play eight games abroad—more than in any previous season. The Super Bowl already has an international audience. In 2024 a record 62.5m people outside the United States tuned in—10% more than in 2023 (a leap perhaps helped by Taylor Swift, a singer, dating Travis Kelce, one of the best players of the victorious Kansas City Chiefs). And the league has played some preseason games abroad for decades. Since 2007 it has played at least one regular-season game each year in London, and a total of four games in Mexico City and three in Germany. In 2024 the league played its first game in Brazil. In 2025 it will play in Spain for the first time, and is reportedly considering Australia, Ireland, Japan, Italy, France and Abu Dhabi for future fixtures.The has also changed how it markets itself overseas. For years, explains Scott Rosner, who teaches sports management at Columbia University, teams could market themselves abroad, but any revenue went to the league, which would divide it among the 32 teams. Since 2022, however, the league has let teams apply for the rights to treat countries as “home” markets, allowing them to keep revenue, as they do for home games.Today, 25 teams are trying to build fan bases abroad. The Miami Dolphins focus on three Spanish-speaking countries; the Rams, who play in heavily Asian-American Los Angeles, are cultivating fans in Japan and China. Teams eschew the hyper-patriotic packaging in which the wraps itself domestically and opt for partnerships with local ad agencies who know the market. They also set up participatory events such as camps for flag football, a non-contact version in which, instead of tackling, players have to grab a flag attached to their opponents’ kit.The league has invested deeply overseas in flag football, which will be an Olympic sport for the first time in 2028. It requires less equipment but still accustoms players to the game’s arcane rules. American football may never replace the beautiful game, but more languages may soon need to find translations for “touchdown”, “linebacker” and more.