The NFL is the richest sports league in the world. They make more money than the NBA, NHL and the Premier League combined. But they still can't get enough. So they are trying to enter new markets. And with such deep marketing pockets, it is no wonder they are able to sell out a stadium abroad.
In November 2022, 70 thousand fans celebrated the NFL game in Munich. NFL Munich crowd sings "Take Me Home, Country "Roads" The clip of the German crowd singing country roads went viral because it showcased the successful melting of two very passionate fan cultures. Even Tom Brady said it was one of his greatest football moments ever And the guy has won pretty much everything there is to win in his sport.
But as successful as all of this sounds, there is another, slightly weird part to the story. One about a bizarre league that involves Donald Trump, an elephant, and how they accidentally helped association football some very valuable marketing lessons. Welcome to Athletic Interest and how the NFL failed in Europe. American Football has one big problem.
There's a seven month break between the Super Bowl and the beginning of the next season. It's the biggest gap without any matches in all of the US sports. So the NFL and TV broadcasters saw an opportunity: to host more games in the spring.
In the late 80s, they agreed on expanding - to Europe. By bringing their product to a new market, the NFL hoped for a lot of new fans - and cash. It was a very lucrative time to enter the market. European football was nowhere near as big as it is today, and a huge market was up for grabs. They were also hoping to create a farm league to develop talents. But the project got off to a rough start: it was even difficult to find a name. And the NFL can blame Donald Trump.
He had acquired rights to the name “International Football League”, the preferred choice of the NFL. Trump was not willing to sell, so the NFL went for the 'World League of American Football'. In 1991, the league started to tackle Europe. Funded by the NFL franchises which invested 50 thousand dollars each to get the World League running. TV broadcasters paid more than 25 million dollars for the first season. And probably none of them ever saw their money again. Although the World League had a promising start. An average of 25 thousand people attended the first games.
But the hype didn't last long - the TV ratings were miserable, the league made a huge loss And after the second season, the NFL decided to close it. But giving up was not an option. After two years of brainstorming and re-branding, the World League came back - with a narrower focus on Europe. The NFL then tried some really weird things to gain traction. For example, they decided to let an elephant, an animal neither native in the US nor in Europe, present the league's trophy.
Tailgate parties attracted more people than the actual games. And the cheerleaders were bigger than the players. Rebranding the league again, first as NFL Europe League, later as NFL Europa didn't do much besides proving the lack of vision by the NFL. The project was burning 30 million dollars a year - almost half a billion in total.
So eventually, the NFL pulled the plug. The two reasons why the league was originally founded, backfired in the long run. Yes, there are good examples of NFL players who started their careers in Europe before successfully returning to the US and eventually winning the Super Bowl. But overall, it wasn't easy to sell a minor league without the sport's biggest stars.
Besides the lack of vision, there was simply a lack of quality. The games were never near the quality of the NFL - and viewers quickly realized that and shifted their focus to watching the real NFL instead of the less exciting European sister league. It's like trying to convince your friend to watch an MLS game instead of El Clásico. But the NFL learned its lesson. Instead of trying to sell a cheap copy, they started selling the real thing.
The same year that the NFL Europa folded forever their big sister NFL started to play regular season matches abroad. First in London, then in Toronto, Mexico City and in 2022 in Munich.
While England, Canada and Mexico are logical fits in terms of language and geography, Germany is no obvious choice at first sight. It's neither a direct neighbor nor does it share the language. So, why Germany? After the second world war, Germany was divided into four sectors - including one American. In the following years, more than 200 American military bases were established in Germany. The larger bases especially, looked like tin American cities. With American stores, American schools - an American sports. Which attracted curious Germans. People would go over to the bases, lookin through the fences and the American soldiers would bring them in and teach them how to play football. It was a cultural exchange that paid off. Over 40 years ago, the German Football League was formed as the first of its kind in Europe. When NFL Europa folded in 2007, five of the six competing teams were based in Germany. All this set the groundwork for the biggest American football spectacle so far on German soil: The NFL's Munich-Game in 2022.
The organizers received three million ticket requests. Enough to fill the Allianz Arena more than 40 times. A recent study revealed American Football as the second-most watched sport in Germany - only behind reigning king football. Also thanks to these three guys and their TV show. They popularized American football in Germany. Providing expert analysis on TV and online, but also by never getting tired of explaining the game to new audiences. It is a great example of what the NFL went wrong in the first place. American Football can be very confusing. Sebastian Vollmer won the Super Bowl but wa Quoted that even after 2 years of playing the game, he didn't know all the rules... So instead of trying to make the game more interesting with elephants and cheerleaders, it's better to focus on explaining the beauty of it to new viewers. . . . Takes more time, but has a higher reward. The NFL certainly understood that point and started promoting flag football as an easier and more approachable version for kids and fans to get in touch with the game.
With the Olympics in LA in 2028 and the NFL pushing hard for flag football to become an Olympic sport, this strategy could turn you into a masterstroke. The second challenge that the NFL faces its competition with other sports: a lack of international stars. Just think of what Yao Ming did for the popularity of the NBA in China. But the NFL also has a master plan for that problem: The International Player Pathway Program (IPPP). The main objective of this program is to increase the pool of talented international players and to ultimately increase the global popularity. of American football. It was established in 2017 and has seen success in placing international athletes in NFL practice squads, with several players earning promotions to active rosters. It looks like the NFL has learned its lesson. There are already more games confirmed to take place in Germany and there is even talk about moving one franchise there permanently to London. Arguably a huge market, but also a city with plenty of very established football clubs already. Which brings up a major question. In today's globalized world, it might ultimately come to a battle between American and Association Football for the hearts - and cash - of the fans. Both would be well advised to pay attention not only to the money, but also to how Sustainably grow the sports entrusted to them. In the end, the fans will make the vote.