GLOBALIZATION IN THE NFLBY: JEFF RODISEL

NFL INTERNATIONAL SERIES

▸ The NFL has sent teams all around the world for regular season games including the following locations

▸ The United Kingdom

▸ Mexico

▸ Canada

▸ Japan

▸ Australia

▸ Germany

▸ Spain

STADIUMS OUTSIDE OF THE U.S. THAT HAVE HOSTED NFL GAMES

▸ Wembley Stadium in London

▸ Twickenham Stadium in London

▸ Estadio Azteca in Mexico City

▸ Rogers Centre in Toronto

▸ Workers Stadium in Beijing

▸ The Tokyo Dome in Japan

A DIVERSE ROSTER OF PLAYERS

‣ The NFL also employs players that originate from more than 20 different nationalities. This shows the amount of influence that the NFL has on football players around the world and the sport of football itself.

POSSIBILITIES IN EUROPE

▸ Europe is viewed as an iceberg for the NFL and we are just seeing the tip of it in the United States

▸ There are countless other possibilities, which have been discussed, to increase revenue such as:

▸ A potential expansion franchise in London

▸ A developmental league throughout Europe

▸ Increasing the number of games played outside of the United States every year

FUTURE GLOBALIZATION OF THE NFL

▸ The Tottenham Hotspur have signed a contract with the NFL, allowing them to play at least two games every year in their new stadium starting in 2018

▸ There are games scheduled to be played in Mexico in 2016 and upcoming years

EXPANSION WITHIN THE UNITED STATES

▸ The NFL has also recently approved franchises to move to different cities that have been missing an NFL team for years such as Los Angeles

▸ They have also discussed moving teams to cites that have never seen an NFL franchise such as Las Vegas and San Antonio

POSSIBLE EXPANSION TEAM IN LONDON

▸ Difficulties to overcome include:

▸ Scheduling teams to travel to London on a weekly basis, as well as traveling London’s team to travel to the U.S.

▸ T.V. scheduling due to the time difference between the U.S. and the U.K.

▸ Determine a stadium for the expansion team to play their home games

▸ Pay for players who live in London and will use a different currency

LOS ANGELES’ EFFECT ON LONDON

▸ Before Los Angeles had an NFL team, many franchises were using London as leverage to convince the NFL to allow them to move to Los Angeles

▸ Now that LA has a franchise there is speculation that the support for a franchise in London will die down

EXPANDING TO NEW COUNTRIES

▸ The NFL, for the most part, has traditionally stuck to four countries when discussing globalization:

▸ United Kingdom

▸ Mexico

▸ Canada

▸ China

▸ Countries like Germany have a major following to American football, but for some reason have not been able to gain support from the NFL in the ways that these four countries have

INCREASING POPULARITY IN THE SPORT

▸ American football has been increasing in popularity all around the world and the NFL is trying to capitalize on this

▸ Participation in amateur football in the U.K. has increased about 15% each year since 2007

▸ There are 250 clubs and 500 individual teams playing football in Germany

▸ The NFL is constantly selling out its games in London and other locations in the world

INCREASING DISINTEREST FROM TEAMS TO TRAVEL

▸ Teams must plan trips to London several months in advance, and send supplies over before the season even starts

▸ Teams that are relocating or hosting a Super Bowl typically are forced to give up a home game to play in another country

▸ This year the Los Angeles Rams had the most miles traveled out of any team in the NFL, but most of this can be attributed to their game which was played in London

THE LONDON APPROACH

▸ The NFL looks to expand to other countries in similar ways to what it is currently doing in London

▸ They must find a location with a current fanbase that still has the ability to grow in the future

▸ Find locations with stadiums that are able to host games

▸ Have everything work logistically

T.V. DEALS

▸ To be able to broadcast their product around the world, the NFL must go to these other countries and discuss a contract with the local cable providers

▸ This is another reason why the NFL has yet to travel to some countries

▸ They have recently agreed to a deal with Germany that allowed them to air 43 games last year

NFL EUROPE

▸ NFL Europe was a developmental league for future NFL talent

▸ Consisted of 10 teams

▸ Was founded in 1989

▸ Disbanded in 2007

▸ Set unrealistic goals for viewers in different countries

HURDLES THE NFL MUST OVERCOME TO CONTINUES ITS GLOBALIZATION

▸ To continue its domination of the sport of American Football, the NFL has to overcome multiple difficulties to gain significant popularity in other countries

▸ Facing the most popular and played sport worldwide, which is soccer

▸ Overcome the negative impacts that NFL Europe had

▸ Deal with scheduling conflicts to finally create a franchise in Europe

OUTSOURCING

‣ The book describes outsourcing as the practice of moving manufacturing and service centers to countries where labor is cheap (Chpt 1. Pg 3)

‣ A large portion of the NFL’s apparel and jerseys are produced by Nike, who practices outsourcing by making most of their goods in countries such as China and Guatemala.

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER

‣ Despite the continuous success in London, why has the NFL never played more than three games there a year?

‣ How will the NFL begin to influence American football in Germany?

‣ Will there be continued support for an expansion franchise from team owners?

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER CONT.

▸ Will the NFL decide to make four expansion teams in Europe all at once or gradually?

▸ When will the NFL create a franchise in London?

▸ How will expansion to Europe effect the rest of the league and the players that will play in Europe?

WORKS CITED

‣ Vrentas, Jenny. "The NFL's Strategy for Growing the Sport Overseas, Particularly Europe." The MMQB. N.p., 24 July 2015. Web. 26 Oct. 2016.

‣ Gardiner, Bryan. "Inside the NFL’s Quest to Build a Truly Global League." Wired.com. Conde Nast Digital, 6 Jan. 2016. Web. 26 Oct. 2016.

‣ Miller, K. (2015). Organizational communication: Approaches and processes (7th ed.). Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.