7:31 AM ET
Associated Press
MUNICH -- The NFL wants to support its European circuit going present that Germany has joined Britain successful hosting games.
Spain and France are atop the league's privation database arsenic it continues to look internationally for gross growth.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers bushed the Seattle Seahawks 21-16 connected Sunday astatine Allianz Arena -- a archetypal for Germany arsenic portion of a four-year woody that the league hopes volition widen long-term. London has hosted regular-season games since 2007.
Beyond Germany, which could besides get further games soon, the league's investigation of instrumentality maturation and commercialized imaginable puts Spain and France "very overmuch connected our radar," Brett Gosper, NFL caput of U.K. and Europe, told The Associated Press successful an interview.
"We request to bash our homework to marque definite that determination is the anticipation of a spot to onshore immoderate games successful those markets, gauge involvement of the big stadia, gauge involvement of the big city, adjacent the government, arsenic to their enthusiasm to assistance america bring a game," Gosper said.
Spain has a flimsy borderline due to the fact that the Chicago Bears and Miami Dolphins present person "home marketing" rights successful the country. The NFL has divvied up planetary rights to funny teams covering 10 countries including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Ghana, Mexico and the U.K. No teams person rights successful France.
"When you cognize that determination are teams operating successful [the planetary rights program], you privation to look astatine the imaginable and the viability of perchance having games successful those markets astatine immoderate point," Gosper said.
There are 5 planetary games this season: 3 successful London, 1 successful Munich and 1 successful Mexico City connected Monday erstwhile the Arizona Cardinals play the San Francisco 49ers.
International enlargement was 1 crushed the NFL added a 17th crippled to the schedule. The league has committed to playing 4 planetary games each season, and teams are required to play a "home" crippled overseas erstwhile each 8 seasons.
Outside of that commitment, a squad with rights successful a state tin opt to play location games there, arsenic the Jacksonville Jaguars bash successful London. The Jags person played 9 times successful the British superior and presently person a three-year woody to play an yearly "home" crippled astatine the 90,000-seat Wembley Stadium.
"A squad mightiness take to bash that. That's a existent anticipation but again not imminent," Gosper said.
"Certainly, successful adjacent six months to 12 months we'll beryllium truly investigating the viability of our options from a stadium constituent of presumption -- not conscionable successful Europe but elsewhere -- and past astatine the aforesaid clip successful parallel seeing what the appetite is for clubs to perchance exploit those markets with a game."
In Spain, Real Madrid's Santiago Bernabéu Stadium is undergoing large renovations that volition see a shot transportation that retracts to marque mode for an artificial turf tract that tin beryllium utilized for American shot with a capableness of implicit 80,000. Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, which has a semipermanent woody with the NFL to big London games, has a akin system. Atlético Madrid's Wanda Metropolitano Stadium seats 68,000.
Camp Nou is Europe's largest shot stadium with a capableness of 99,000, but Barcelona plans to statesman a long-delayed renovation task that volition past into 2026. The city's Montjuic Olympic Stadium seats astir 56,000 and was a erstwhile location to the Barcelona Dragons of the NFL Europe league.
Gosper said determination are "a batch of synergies" with Spain considering the NFL's ample Spanish-speaking instrumentality base. Nine teams person selling rights successful Mexico.
The Stade de France conscionable northbound of Paris has a capableness of conscionable implicit 80,000 for shot games.
"France is simply a small spot extracurricular of that, and it's its ain marketplace and culture," Gosper said, "but astatine the aforesaid clip it's an incredibly beardown sports media marketplace wherever returns could beryllium higher and faster than Spain.
"They're 2 precise steadfast media markets, steadfast sports markets, immoderate beardown indicators from our streaming level arsenic good arsenic from our user sales. When you excavation the information a small bit, they surely are 2 markets with precocious potential."
Elsewhere successful Europe, the Nordic markets would beryllium adjacent and "Sweden successful particular," Gosper said. The country's largest stadium, Friends Arena, tops retired astatine 50,000 fans.
In August 1988, the Bears played the Minnesota Vikings successful a preseason crippled astatine Ullevi stadium successful Gothenburg.
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