Yahoo Sports Mini Super Bowls & Christmas games - NFL's bid to become 'truly global'
The NFL is making no bones about its top goal for 2025.
Last week the league confirmed Berlin as the latest international city to be awarded an NFL game, saying it "continues to prioritise global growth and expand its global footprint".
Over recent years, the NFL's international expansion has been rapid and 2024 has been another huge year for boosting its reach.
There has been a Las Vegas Super Bowl, a first game in South America and a move into global streaming. Oh, and there has been Taylor Swift.
But 2025 is set to be even bigger as the NFL plans to become "a true global sport property".
How many NFL international games will there be in 2025?
The NFL has been holding regular-season games in the UK since 2007. Since 2016, games have also been played in Mexico and Germany, and this season featured Brazil's first game in Sao Paulo.
There were also three games in London, plus one in Munich, matching the previous high of five international games in the same season.
Speaking to reporters, NFL executive vice-president Peter O'Reilly said that international development "is truly a clear, major priority for the league, with the collective goal of becoming a true global sport property".
He added: "We really feel that building. Games are a key part of that."
In 2025, there could be as many as eight international games.
The NFL is committed to playing three in London, and confirmation of a Berlin game follows news of a first game in Spain - at Real Madrid's remodelled Bernabeu stadium.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell also "expects" to return to Brazil and Mexico next season, with a first game in Ireland "a possibility".
Possible NFL expansion cities
If the NFL returns to Brazil, Rio de Janeiro could be the destination this time, while Dublin's Croke Park would be Ireland's host venue.
Beyond 2025, Goodell said last month that he wants to expand the regular season from 17 weeks to 18 and the international schedule to 16 games per season - both within five years.
The NFL has carried out site visits to Abu Dhabi to explore the possibility of staging a game in the United Arab Emirates, as well as Melbourne and Sydney in Australia.
Munich and Frankfurt were Germany's first host cities so could be back on the schedule if the NFL opts for multiple German games.
There could also be more in the UK as the Jacksonville Jaguars - regular visitors since 2013 - are considering taking additional games to London while their stadium in Florida is being renovated.
Will there be a Super Bowl overseas?
Interest in the NFL's championship game - the Super Bowl - is growing at home and abroad.
With a US audience of 123.4 million people, this year's game was the most watched broadcast since the 1969 Moon landing. The audience outside the United States rose by 10% to 62.5 million.
Speaking during this season's London games in October, Goodell hinted that the Super Bowl could one day be held overseas.
However, O'Reilly played down that suggestion, saying that "the notion of an international Super Bowl is far from the front burner for us".
Instead, he added that the NFL's focus is on "growing the number of regular-season games" and "trying to think of these games as mini Super Bowls as we go into these markets".
Many casual observers are more interested in the half-time show and events during Super Bowl week than the game itself.
The Sao Paulo game, for example, had a sold-out crowd of 47,236, with a half-time show performed by Brazilian pop star Anitta.
But another 25,000 fans attended a free, three-day NFL event in the city and the game had a local economic impact of nearly $62m (£48.9m).
Since 2007, the combined economic impact from the London games stands at more than £1.6bn ($2bn), with two games each year now being staged in Tottenham Hotspur Stadium - the first purpose-built NFL stadium outside North America.
"You could see and feel the impact in the stadium," O'Reilly said after this year's games. "[The fans have] a deep passion. It was palpable, in what is really a world-class stadium. It had a bit of that flair of a mini Super Bowl as well."
How much money does the NFL make?
O'Reilly said that the NFL, its clubs and partners now have a "global mindset", with 25 of the 32 clubs being part of the league's global marketing programme.
That covers 19 countries, helping to build brand awareness and fan engagement, while the increase in streaming services and NFL content on social media means the league is reaching a far wider, younger audience.
"Beyond the games themselves, there's so much momentum globally year round that we're excited about," O'Reilly added.
With the NFL dominating the US sports market in viewership ratings and sponsorship revenue, the international market represents the next frontier.
It is not clear how much that currently brings in for the NFL but it is the world's most profitable sports league, generating a reported $20bn (£15.7bn) of revenue in 2023.
The NBA brought in $13bn (£10.2bn) during the 2023-24 season, while Premier League clubs banked an aggregate of £6.1bn ($7.8bn) in 2022-23.
Most of the NFL's revenue comes from media rights. In 2021 it agreed an 11-year deal worth $111bn (£87.3bn). The NBA's current deal, also for 11 years, is worth $76bn (£59.8bn) and the Premier League's is £10bn ($13bn) over three years.
However, in 2023 the NFL drastically enhanced its streaming offer by signing a 10-year deal with DAZN, allowing fans in more than 200 countries to watch every game live.
Then this May, the NFL agreed a three-year deal with Netflix, which has paid a reported $150m (£118m) to broadcast two live games on Christmas Day.
The league says these will be world sport's first "truly globally distributed games".
More games will mean more media rights to be sold, and more international games could mean that - because of time zones - there will be a fourth broadcast window each Sunday.
Imagine that: more than 12 hours of consecutive, live NFL action - every week. No wonder the league and its teams have such a "global mindset".
