As the NFL embarks on playing a third game this season in London, England, this Sunday as the Kansas City Chiefs take on the Detroit Lions. The league is looking to expand into other international markets.
According to Bleacher Report’s Jason Cole, the NFL is looking to increase the number of regular season games and with that it would allow them to play more international games. This season, the games in London at Wembley Stadium have been competitive. Last Sunday, we saw the NFL stream the first free, global live stream of a NFL regular season game that reached over 33.6 million viewers/15.2 million unique viewers across devices using Yahoo and Tumblr.
With that success and the league extending their agreement to play regular season games at Wembley Stadium for the next five years, the NFL’s global reach is improving. Cole says that the NFL wants to get into new markets such as Mexico City, Germany, Japan and Cuba. Yes, the league is considering playing a game in Havana, Cuba.
Cole adds that the league is thinking it would be a historic game and help bridge relationships between the two countries, as the Obama Administration has begun to do. Finally, Cole thinks that the NFL views this as a way to do something great on a political scale.
If the NFL can play games in Cuba that would be fantastic. But games in Mexico City, Germany, and Japan have a better chance of happening as there have already been games played in those locations. Before the league can think about expanding into different markets, they have to get over the hurdle of adding more regular season games, which the NFLPA has to agree too.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
