MADRID — The NFL reached critical mass years ago as the most popular sport in America. Now, the ever-growing league has its sights set on global dominance through international expansion, as noted by Sunday’s game in Madrid between the Miami Dolphins and Washington Commanders.
The league’s first regular-season foray into Spain is part of a years-long effort to spread the American religion of gridiron football across the globe.
It’s working.
An NFL representative said “hundreds of thousands” of people logged on for a shot to snag tickets ahead of Sunday’s game at Bernabeu Stadium, home of the legendary Real Madrid soccer club. The league eventually sold out the 84,000-seat venue in mere minutes.
Those seats didn’t go to your typical American season-ticket holders, either. While the league expected about 8,000 U.S. fans to make the overseas trip, the remainder of the stadium was packed with eager European spectators.
“That creates this unique, unifying element in the stadium,” Peter O’Reilly, the NFL’s executive vice president in charge of the international games, said earlier this month. “But certainly for us, it’s important that local fans get the opportunity to experience a game, and that’s what we see in these games and in most of our games.”
The purpose of the NFL’s international games, he reckoned, isn’t to give American fans an excuse to travel. It’s a stepping stone to create new supporters in a fresh market.
“They’ve kind of reached the peak of lifestyle in the United States. The life cycle, we call it: how many more fans can you get?” said Lisa Delpy Neirotti, the head of the sports management department at George Washington University.
Each of the top 11 U.S. TV broadcasts in 2024 were NFL games, even though the league faced stiffer competition in an Olympic and election year.
“They’re never going to stop trying in the United States,” she said. “But now they need to go outside the United States to continue to expand that.”
Spanish takeover
The NFL isn’t taking half measures in its global conquest. The league inundated the city with off-field activations like flag football tournaments, fan zones and countless photo opportunities with league partners.
The league was unavoidable in Madrid as banners of Commanders and Dolphins players adorned light posts and NFL jerseys dotted every tourist attraction in the city.
NFL die-hards from across Europe flocked to Madrid, even if they didn’t have a rooting interest in the game. They wore their fandom proudly, with Packers hats mixing with Panthers hoodies and Philadelphia Eagles jackets in crowds outside of the city’s royal palace.
For many of Sunday’s spectators, the trip to the Spanish capital city was their first shot at live NFL action, a novelty unlike anything else. The fans, many of whom were only casually familiar with the rules of American football, were there for the grandeur of it all.
“They’re coming for that experience. It’s like the Olympics,” said Ms. Neirotti. “It’s more event tourists than Olympic fans. It’s the intrigue and excitement around experiencing something so American as NFL football.”
On Saturday morning, hundreds of people flocked to Madrid’s Plaza de Espana, a popular square near the city’s center. The Dolphins had taken over the area for a fan zone with a shop, DJ booth, video board and games like field-goal kicking challenges and route-running drills.
“That stuff’s extremely important because it gives people a little taste of the sport and helps people understand that it might not be as easy as it looks on TV,” said Halvar Dill, a Dolphins fan from Florida who immigrated to Switzerland about 15 years ago.
Dill coaches a gridiron football club — the Glarus Orks — in Switzerland and brought two of his teammates to Madrid for the game. Kevin Baumgartner, a defensive lineman on the Orks, saw the Dolphins play in Frankfurt in 2022.
They still don’t take the unique opportunity — seeing NFL football on European soil — for granted.
“It’s a door opener,” Mr. Baumgartner said.
Halo effect
The NFL hopes that the game in Madrid will lead to a “Halo Effect” throughout Latin America.
“There’s impact across the the broader Spanish-speaking world,”Mr. O’Reilly said. “That halo is important. We’re starting from a base of 11 million fans [in Spain] and our goal is going deeper.”
To bring in football curious spectators who aren’t yet fans, the league takes its international ventures seriously. Each international game is treated like a “mini Super Bowl,” complete with the off-field festivities and a halftime show.
On Sunday, Argentine DJ BIZARRAP took the field at Bernabeu Stadium alongside Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee, who is a household name throughout Spanish-speaking home in the Americas.
“You’re making it an event, not so much a sport event. Because a lot of people don’t know football, but they want the festivities. They want the cheerleaders, they want the. All the promotions we do. They want the halftime shows,” Ms. Neirotti said. “They still kind of idolize that American sports, And I think they just want a little piece of that.”
On the elevator
Embracing host nations and cities is the first phase of growth for the NFL in a new market. A fan might attend a single game as a novelty or curiosity. Then the league’s marketing arm takes over.
“You hook them with the event experience, then you continue to educate them and build their fandom. It’s the elevator,” Ms. Neirotti said. “Get them onto the elevator and have them move up. They come in as a one time fun thing to do, take a selfie and say ‘I was there.’ But now you’ve got their info.”
From there, new fans can start to follow the league on social media before watching more games on TV. The NFL can egg on the process by offering merchandise discounts, another way to market the league to new audiences.
The efforts have proven effective in Germany, which has seen its fanbase explode since the NFL started hosting games in the nation in 2022. The growth has led to college football leagues in Germany and a ripple effect in nations like Switzerland.
“The growth is insane,” Mr. Dill said. “It’s substantial.”
When he left the United States around 2010, he had no official way to watch his beloved Dolphins. He jury-rigged a set up that allowed him to rerout games to Switzerland from his parents’ stateside home.
“Now you can easily just stream any game you want all the time. The games are even on, like, you can even get them on, cable TV, you can actually see them,” he said, noting that the expanded international slate has allowed more fans to experience the pageantry of an NFL Sunday. “It’s grown so, so much.”
The NFL has put a number on it, with league officials saying they’ve added 9 million fans — for a total of 20 million — in Germany over the last five years.
Olympic dreams
The sport isn’t slowing down, either. Football is primed for an international expansion as the flag version will be included in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Countries around the world, including Switzerland, are starting national flag football programs as they prepare to compete in the Games.
“Using Switzerland as an example,they’ve put a lot of money toward flag football and their goal for the Olympics is to get a medal,” Mr. Dill said. “I think the NFL can leverage that, if they can turn that momentum from flag to tackle, it’s amazing.”
The NFL has appeared confident in its ability to convert fans. Experts like Ms. Neirotti believe that’s why the league has supported the Olympics and will allow its star players to compete in 2028. The Olympics become a form of advertising for the league.
People see flag football in the Olympics and become players themselves.
“If you play the sport and have some knowledge of the skills and the rules, you’re more likely to watch the sport,” Ms. Neirotti said. Thus, the NFL cycle of ever-growing fandom and viewsrship continues.
Madrid was the last international game of the season for the NFL. They’ll venture back overseas with games in London, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro and Melbourne next year.
The NFL has not confirmed any host cities beyond 2026, though league officials noted they work on a “two-year horizon.”
The Middle East could be next. While the NFL pegged the Dolphins as the official team of Spain, the Commanders received marketing rights to the United Arab Emirates through the league’s global markets program.
“There’s a large population of people that could come over from India, they could come from different places,” Ms. Neirotti speculated, noting that the NBA has hosted preseason games in Abu Dhabi for each of the least four years. “One day I could see a game played there, in the United Arab Emirates, or somewhere in the Middle East.”