The International Expansion
of U.S. Major Sports Leagues
Although the NFL international games began in 2007, a significant increase in interest has occurred over the past ten years with TV viewership of NFL games doubling in the UK. This is partially due to the continued consistency of NFL games in iconic stadiums including Wembley and Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (Why the NFL London Games Are a Massive Success, 2024). The first non-London-based game was in 2016 in Mexico, with the next expansion happening six years later in 2022 for an annual Germany game, representing a long-term larger focus on international audiences. Brazil, a traditionally European football-loving country, welcomed its first NFL international games at a major soccer stadium in São Paulo in 2024. Through the GMP initiative overall, the 29 teams in the league in 2025 will all utilize marketing and branding strategies in 21 international markets (NFL’s Global Markets Program Adds Four New Clubs, Two New Markets in 2025, 2025) allowing for teams to further “brand awareness and fandom beyond the U.S., through fan engagement, events, commercial opportunities and NFL Flag development” (NFL.com | Official Site of the National Football League, 2022). These initiatives aim to develop pockets of fan bases across the globe. Other related initiatives have been created in conjunction with this growth including an NFL academy in London (Why the NFL London Games Are a Massive Success, 2024) and with Super Bowl LVIII watch parties hosted by the NFL in key growth areas including Australia, Brazil, France, and Ghana (NFL, 2024). This past year, international viewership for Super Bowl LVIII saw a 10% increase year-over-year with a total of 62.5 million international television audiences.
In contrast, the NBA’s first international exhibition games occurred in 1978 in Israel, kicking off a period in the upcoming decades with games held in China, Germany, Russia, Italy, and other countries (Shofner, 2023). Most recently, the NBA’s Paris Games 2025 generated over 718 million views on social media platforms and the two games became “the most-watched NBA games ever on television in France. NBA League Pass viewership was up 29% in France vs. last year’s Paris Game.” Part of this success stems from the engagement specifically from Victor Wembanyama, a French player currently on the San Antonio Spurs. Content featuring him in Paris for his team’s game against the Indiana Pacers “propelled him to become the second most-viewed NBA player across @NBA social media accounts this season, with more than 836M views. The video of him juggling a ball on the Paris Saint-Germain pitch on Wednesday, Jan. 22 garnered 43.1M views on Instagram, making it the third most-viewed post on NBA social media platforms this season” (The NBA Paris Games 2025 Presented by Tissot Deliver Record Social Media Engagement Globally and Television Viewership in France - NBA.com: NBA Communications, 2025).
Individuals including Wembanyama who come from international backgrounds to play in the NBA have historically propelled growth of the sport’s viewership in their communities. The NBA in particular has benefited immensely in growing its international audience due to the prevalence of players from around the world. Yao Ming serves as one of the major kickstarters for this international player growth when he was drafted in 2002, marking the first time a player had been internationally drafted without previously playing in the United States. According to LoRé (2017), “two years after Yao joined the league, the NBA became the first American professional sports league to play in China with a pair of Rockets’ preseason games.” Since his inclusion on the Rockets and even with him retiring in 2011, the NBA has further increased brand awareness in China and basketball has risen in popularity amongst younger generations (LoRé, 2017). Since then, the public has seen a similar impact in various communities due to the popularity of NBA legend Jeremy Lin, and current superstars in the league Nikola Jokić, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Luka Dončić. The NBA, and the teams that these individuals have played on specifically, have successfully thus far leveraged these international superstars to increase viewership from the player’s communities.
Both leagues have adopted opportunities to encourage children and young adults to play American football across the globe. The NFL has begun this with its International Player Pathway Program and NFL Africa focusing on encouraging elite athletes to cultivate their skills for the potential opportunity to play in the NFL. The league has also recently opened doors to an NFL Academy in Australia, focusing on “athletic, educational and career pathway opportunities for the student-athletes and the wider community,” the second academy of its kind alongside one in the United Kingdom. Students from these academies have already secured positions to play college American football, many of whom are committed to or playing for Division 1 college programs (NFL to Open NFL Academy on Australia’s Gold Coast, 2019). Similarly to the NFL, the NBA has set up NBA Academy campuses in Senegal, Mexico, and Australia intending to develop highly athletic and elite men’s and women’s players from around the world (NBA: Academy, n.d.).
In addition to league-wide initiatives, the Olympics have also historically been prevalent in supporting the popularity of basketball around the world. Although not directly related to the NBA, the Olympic gold medal performance by the U.S.’s Men’s basketball team with Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and Larry Bird during the 1992 Barcelona Olympics introduced and showcased basketball on an international level (Shofner, 2023). This growth in predominantly American sports will only develop as countries prepare individuals for the addition of flag football for the first time at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. These efforts will lead to better international understanding and awareness of American football, and may even be a catalyst for the inclusion of American football in the Olympic sports roster in the future. The utilization of international events such as the Olympics can only be beneficial for the NBA and NFL as their rosters of international players also rise and players represent the NBA on different teams in the Olympics. The 2024 Paris Olympics saw a record high of 50 NBA players on teams for 12 different countries, a new record number of players from the league since the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (50 NBA Players for Men’s Olympic Basketball Tournament Paris 2024, 2024).