When the Washington Commanders face the Miami Dolphins Sunday in Madrid, Spain, it will mark the seventh and final game of the National Football League’s 2025 international calendar.
While it’s tough for teams to sacrifice the revenue that comes from a home game, the league’s overall international strategy has begun paying off. That’s quite a statement considering the league’s income was reported by Sports Pro to have surpassed USD $23 billion in 2024.
BBC explained this is double the revenue of the National Basketball Association and triple the Premier League in England.
When your business is booming, and the envy of all competitors the world over, you don’t stop. You keep building and opening new revenue streams. That has been the raison d’être for NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. And it’s worked.
Sports Pro reports that “national revenue is currently estimated to account for 62 percent of the NFL’s total income.” $12 billion comes from annual TV deals.
But it’s outside of America where the league seeks to grow and widen its reach. According to Sports Pro, the NFL developed a Global Markets Program in 2022, giving teams “access to international markets for commercial activation.” Twenty-nine teams are participating across 21 countries, including Greece and the United Arab Emirates, which were added to the program this year.
BBC states that the NFL has 410 million fans worldwide, not a higher number than other global sports. But the league “now has a business model that has proved extremely profitable, with international games contributing to that revenue.”
Prior to the game in Madrid, the league will have showcased its product this season in Brazil, Ireland, the United Kingdom and Germany. There will be games in Mexico and Australia next year. (The National Hockey League was first to take its show down under in 2023).
One team that has really spurred on the league’s international success is the Jacksonville Jaguars. According to BBC, they “helped the cause by agreeing to play every year at Wembley [Stadium in London] from 2013. They are the only NFL team that manages an international game themselves and keep all revenues from it.”
The Huddle Up newsletter reports that the Jaguars’ deal with the NFL enables them to “generate tens of millions of dollars from its international games in London.” This has helped the league in building the international fan base and let the Jaguars reap the benefits of selling tickets, food and beverage and merchandise. Huddle Up states that the Jaguars “generate USD $35-50 million in revenue each time they play in London.”
Jaguars president Mark Lamping told BBC, “From a financial standpoint, it was better for us to play one game [in London] than in Jacksonville.”
“We have to be global,” Goodell told ESPN. “Every time we play an international game, fans say they want more.
“I really, truly believe our game can and will be global.”
Despite the burgeoning in-stadium fan support for games around the world, it’s the TV money that always comes back around for the NFL. The international games are no exception. They are in unique time slots – suitable for the live audience – and provide an extra window for the domestic audience in the United States, and Canada.
Like the previous five games played in Europe this season, Sunday’s game will air at 9:30 am eastern time on NFL Network and TSN+. The league now values these games at USD $55 million per game. Sports Pro writes that “the league could attract substantial interest from networks eager to acquire these rights.
“If the NFL successfully implements its plan to host 16 international games each year, it stands to generate an estimated $880 million annually in media income.”
And that is how you grow a business that made $23B last year … one billion more dollars at a time.
The NFL’s ability to make money is extraordinary, and with its sights set on expanding its business internationally, the next era in the league’s evolution promises to be even more lucrative.
Follow Dan Gladman on Instagram and Blue Sky: @dgontheroad
