Fans are seen in the NFL London 2021 match between Miami Dolphins and Jacksonville Jaguars in Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on October 17, 2021 in London, England.
Tottenham Hotspur FC | Getty images
The NFL commissioner Roger Goodell weighs the potential of an international team.
“I would say that the markets outside the United States are very, very attractive,” TOODELL told CNBC in an exclusive interview. “And we have a pretty good blanket here.”
The League has developed an international game in recent years, the matches this season taking place in Brazil, Ireland, England, Germany and Spain. It has been a success for a long time with games in London, especially.
Goodell said that the maintenance of a London-based team was “possible”, adding, “there are markets that could certainly support a team. We have always focused, what are the competitive consequences of this? Can we manage this? And therefore each year, we try to learn something from the international series.”
The Vikings of Minnesota play consecutive international matches in the coming weeks, which Goodell said “never was done before”.
The Vikings will play the Pittsburgh Steelers in Dublin on Sunday, followed by Cleveland Browns in London on October 5.
“It is starting to give you an idea, can you do certain things that will be necessary from the point of view of planning and a point of view of training? When we had the idea of the idea of the idea of [an international] Regular season match, I did not think there would be so much support. But now, each team wants to do it, “said Goodell.” We don’t have to talk to them. They ask us. “”
Mark Shapiro, director of long -standing sports media and currently president and chief of the TKO Group, said the international expansion for major sports leagues last week “was a winner”.
“I think this international piece … I do not speak as a fact … is not yet profitable, but it will be the case,” said Shapiro about the aspirations of the NFL abroad at the IMG X Redbird top in England.
“As an American rights holders, we see things through the American objective. It is very myopic,” he said. “Do it well in some of these other countries. Do it well in Europe. Do it well in Asia.”
A week 1 The NFL game in Brazil, broadcast on YouTubeAttracted 16.2 million American fans and 1.1 million international fans, presenting the growth potential of the League if Goodell can extend the game worldwide.
Shapiro said that if international time zones could make a challenge, it is not necessarily a new obstacle, noting planning difficulties even inside American borders, due to the Games on the West Coast.
“The main thing is that you will never have well. You will never get a time zone that works for everyone,” said Shapiro. “When you start talking about world nature events, it becomes even more difficult on time zone, but you have to adjust yourself.”
The YouTube postman
Goodell praised the League partnership with Youtube, specifically citing the capacity of the platform to reach a younger audience. YouTube acquired a DirectV Sunday ticket three years ago, and the Brazilian game was the very first match on the main and free platform.
“I think there are so many different directions that the relationship will go, and it will not be one, it will be a lot,” said Goodell about Youtube. “The Sunday ticket was a huge success for them as well as for us.”
Familiar sources with the case told CNBC that the Sunday ticket currently had between 2 million and 5 million subscribers – therefore, more than Directv had done so, but still a little niche product.
“It strikes a younger demography,” said Goodell. “This is the technology they bring. They change the way people look at sport, whether multi-commentary or simply for creators.”
However, Goodell rejected the idea that young viewers no longer watch the full matches.
“I know everyone says that children don’t look. It is not true, according to our experience,” he said. “I think they can look with several screens or several devices. They look at their fantastic team or they look at certain aspects of the game. But that’s good. This is what we do.”
Shapiro said that in full swing media partners like YouTube would only claim shares and increase media rights assessments.
“Why didn’t Youtube jum, at this stage, at this stage?” Shapiro said, adding that the Sunday ticket was a way to get the company’s feet wet.
“Obviously, they earn money at fist. They manage a business. It is a destination for everyone,” said Shapiro. “Forget that there is no demo – it’s the world that is their demo.”