Over the past 15 years, the National Football League (NFL) has been looking to grow interest in the league outside of the USA, particularly in Europe, through its “NFL International Series”, hosting games outside the USA – starting with London in 2007. Despite already being the biggest sports property in the world by revenue, the NFL generates the vast majority of its income in the United States. Building its international appeal, therefore, would enable it to grow even further.

According to Ampere Analysis’ latest Sports Consumer survey, 10% of UK sports fans say they enjoy the NFL. This is a similar level of popularity to the NBA, while the MLB attracts just 5% of the sample. Unlike the NBA, however, the NFL has been less able to engage younger sports fans: Over half of the UK’s NBA fans in the survey are between 18 and 34 years old, while this figure is just 36% for the NFL. Local games may therefore be an opportunity to tap into a younger fanbase.

The UK has the second highest proportion of NFL fans among the big five European countries, behind Germany at 11%, possibly indicating that the International Series has contributed to higher popularity of the sport in the UK.

As part of the NFL’s international growth strategy, in 2022, 19 of the NFL teams were granted access to International Home Marketing Areas (IHMA) across 10 countries. The teams allocated to each country have been able to carry out marketing activities in their respective countries from this year. Those allocated to the UK are the Chicago Bears, Jacksonville Jaguars, Miami Dolphins, Minnesota Vikings, New York Jets and San Francisco 49ers.

While Miami Dolphins and San Francisco 49ers are both in the top three teams followed by UK NFL fans (9% and 8% of fans respectively), the other four teams have a much lower proportion of fans who list them as their favourite. Notably, Minnesota Vikings were not listed as a favourite team by any of those surveyed. This lack of profile could be a challenge but also provides an opportunity: The IHMA will give these teams a chance to implement a more active commercial strategy in the UK and build their fan base, which in turn should help to build the profile of the NFL as a whole in the market.