I have spent much of this week watching Australian coverage of the NFL and scrolling through social media posts as the 49ers and Rams prepare to play the first regular-season game in Australia. The coverage has been entertaining, enthusiastic and occasionally educational. There have been explanations of the rules, breakdowns of the equipment and attempts to introduce American football to a country that already has a sport called football.
The Aussies are excited. Nearly 100,000 people are expected to fill the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Moreover, the NFL has taken over the city. The Jonas Brothers will perform at halftime, and Tourism Australia has built an advertising campaign around the game featuring wildlife conservationist and television personality Robert Irwin. He’s the son of the late “Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin. In addition, Netflix will distribute the game globally.
It should be a spectacular event. I’m just not convinced it proves football has become a global sport.
This season, the NFL is staging nine regular-season games in seven countries outside the United States. That represents an extraordinary expansion from the occasional London game of the past. The league is no longer simply testing international markets. Moreover, overseas games have become an important part of its schedule, television strategy and marketing machine.
However, more games in more countries don’t automatically mean football has developed deep roots in those places.
Fanfare vs Support
I have covered NFL games in London, and the experience was fantastic. Iconic Wembley Stadium was packed. The atmosphere was loud, and the crowd included jerseys representing nearly every NFL team. It felt like a combination of a football game, convention and international holiday for fans who had waited years to see the league in person.
There was no question the event worked. Yet, the tricky question was whether the sport worked.
There is a difference between selling out one game and supporting a franchise for an entire season. Bring two NFL teams to London, Melbourne, Madrid or Munich once a year, and fans are going to attend. It is rare and different. In addition, people plan vacations around it and arrive wearing whatever NFL jersey they own. Even when neither team represented on it is playing.
That proves the NFL knows how to create demand for an event, but it doesn’t necessarily mean those markets are prepared to support eight or nine home games. Or follow a team through a 5-12 season, or spend three months demanding the offensive coordinator be fired.
Football remains different from basketball, baseball and hockey. Those sports have genuine international foundations. Basketball produces stars from around the world. Baseball has deep cultural roots in Japan, South Korea, Latin America and the Caribbean. Not to mention Hockey has been established for generations in Canada and throughout Europe.
Those sports aren’t merely touring internationally. Moreover, they live there.
American football is still overwhelmingly an American game. There is a considerable gap between watching the NFL and building an organic football culture. The equipment is expensive, and the rosters are enormous. Plus, the sport requires specialized coaching and positions.
Plant The Flag
The NFL recognizes that challenge. Flag football has become an important part of its international strategy and is now being played in more than 500 Australian schools. Its inclusion in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics could provide the NFL with something international games alone cannot. Kids playing a version of football rather than simply watching it on television.
Until then, the league’s greatest international strength may be its ability to turn a football game into an entertainment event.
Australia isn’t simply getting the 49ers against the Rams. In addition, it is getting concerts, celebrity appearances, tourism campaigns and a week of surrounding content. This isn’t just Week 1. It is a miniature Super Bowl with a much longer flight.
That creates an interesting opportunity for the media covering it.
Beat reporters become travel correspondents. Sports anchors explain jet lag, Australian rules football, and the cultural significance of the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Radio shows discuss flight schedules, meat pies and whether arriving early gives the 49ers an advantage over the Rams.
That is the reality of modern sports media. Reporters are no longer simply attending practice, interview players and write a story. In addition, they shoot video, host podcasts, appear on radio, and produce social posts. They bring the audience along for the trip. An international game provides a bottomless supply of material.
Passport? Check.
Microphone? Check.
Portable lighting kit? Check.
Understanding of the Rams’ defensive front? Helpful.
Willingness to eat Vegemite on camera while pretending to enjoy it? Mandatory.
I’m not criticizing that coverage. I’ve been consuming it. The location is a large part of the story because the NFL intentionally made it part of the story. Moreover, that may be the real brilliance of the league’s international expansion. A normal regular-season game controls the sports conversation for a day or two. An international game can create content for an entire week.
Multiply that by nine games in seven countries, and the NFL has created a season-long global marketing campaign disguised as a schedule.
Netflix makes Australia an even better example. The NFL isn’t simply exporting a football game. It is creating a global television event. Moreover, it’s designed to generate highlights, social clips, tourism promotion and coverage from media outlets that normally wouldn’t spend much time discussing the 49ers or Rams.
Enjoy The Spectacle
The MCG will look spectacular on television. In addition, the crowd will be loud, the halftime show polished, and everyone involved will declare the NFL’s Australian debut an overwhelming success.
They’ll probably be right.
We should be careful about what that success means. It will prove Australia can host an NFL game. It will prove American football can attract a massive crowd when presented as a rare international spectacle. Nine games in seven countries will prove the league can repeatedly export that spectacle.
It won’t necessarily prove Australia needs an NFL team or that any of these markets are ready to support one for an entire season.
The NFL understands the modern sports-media business better than any league in America. A football game lasts three hours. Moreover, a global content event can dominate an entire week.
The NFL has unquestionably built America’s greatest traveling show. Whether it has built a truly global sport is still a much tougher call.
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. Sign up for our newsletters to stay updated and get the latest information right in your inbox.
