4/15/13
Globalization of the NFL

The 2010 Superbowl achieved 106 million views making it at the time, the most watched American TV broadcast of all time. However, only a few million people watched the game outside the U.S. And when you compare the number of Superbowl viewers to the FIFA World Cup, which draws upwards of 700 million views globally, the Superbowl doesn’t seem so “super’’. The NFL has failed to develop an effective strategy in order to expand its market globally relative to MLB and the NBA. This report will discuss the various threats and opportunities that the NFL faces in the globalization of the sport, and evaluate strategic options in regard to these threats and opportunities.

The Problem

In order to
Games were played mid march until July so as to not interfere with NFL regular season games. From 1995 until cancellation in 2007, the league was exclusive to Europe. However, it was still a separate entity from the NFL. By the end of the 2007 season, 5 of the 6 teams were located in Germany.

A failure of this separate league was that its purpose was not only to spread demand and interest internationally, but to serve as an off-season training program for the development of U.S. players. This second purpose is parasitic to the growth of the NFLs demand in foreign markets; Europeans knew they were not watching the best players in the world. Many third string NFL players and non-drafted college athletes would travel to compete in the world league. There was a lack of talent and a lack of home grown ''heroes'' to generate fan interest and enthusiasm. The NFL World League was also a testing ground for rules changes, and testing of coaching and officiating. NFL World League was essentially a laboratory for the U.S. NFL.

Strategic Options

For the NFL to begin creating demand and interest globally, it has to expand and market the NFL, not a separate league that is partially used as a testing ground for development and rules changes. Mark Waller of NFLs international operations said it best, “It's got to be the NFL. It can't be the European League.” Due to the lack of