NEW YORK (Reuters) – The National Football League (NFL) has awarded 18 franchises marketing rights to 26 international regions in the New Year, the league said on Wednesday, as it broadens its global ambitions and looks to build fan bases abroad.
The International Home Marketing Areas (IHMA) program grants teams access to markets in countries outside the United States for “fan engagement and commercialization” and other activities for at least five years.
The United Kingdom and Mexico had the largest number of teams earmarked with six and nine respectively while regions in Canada, Brazil, Spain, Germany, China and Australia were also included in the program.
“This important initiative enables NFL teams to develop meaningful, direct relationships with NFL fans abroad, driving fan growth and avidity globally,” NFL Chief Strategy and Growth Officer Christopher Halpin said in a statement.
All 32 NFL teams will play at least one international game during the course of the next eight seasons, with efforts to be made to place teams in their IHMAs where possible.
Expansion abroad has been a top priority for the league with the NFL forming its international division in 1996 amid burgeoning global interest in American football.
The league suspended international games last season due to the coronavirus pandemic, but demand for tickets for the NFL’s five international games in 2019 increased 55% from the previous year, according to StubHub.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery and Fernando Kallas, editing by Ed Osmond)
