Anyone who is interested in business and how businesses operate needs to take a long and hard look at the NFL. There are several things that North America’s largest sports league does to grow and increase their revenue, and regardless of whether you like to watch football or not, there are several interesting takeaways from the NFL.
That’s not to say that everything that makes the NFL grow is by their own doing. Betting on sports, like for example people looking up the nfl week 15 odds and then placing a bet will go a long way towards organically growing. Independent podcasts and the like are doing a lot to keep engagement levels high.
But the biggest problem for the NFL has never been to keep more dedicated fans engaged. Instead, it’s a question of growth. The NFL has always seen the bulk of its fans located in North America, where those interested in the league will continue to watch while those who are not interested will continue to not tune in. In this text we’re going to give you a brief rundown of some of the key factors in the NFL’s growth, and how they continue to find smart ways to attract more viewers.
International interest
With the arrival of sports streaming, more and more people have been able to follow the NFL from different parts of the world. Thanks to the scheduling of the league, wherein the games start at either 1 or 7 PM in New York time large parts of the world can tune in to watch either the first game or the second game without having to stay up until obscene hours in the night. This is something that the NFL has started to recognize in the last couple of years and nowadays one can watch NFL teams duke it out on the gridiron on English, French, South African, and many more countries regular TV channels.
Putting focus on new markets
This is something that ties well into the last paragraph, but it’s worth highlighting. The UK has for a long time been the country outside of North America that has shown the biggest interest for NFL games. With a big population known for their enjoyment of sport, as well as a strong spending power, the UK has been identified as a new key market for the NFL to tap into to continue to grow.
Therefore, the NFL nowadays hosts at least two games in London each year. These events always draw sellout crowds and are extremely popular. This helps act as a driving factor for general interest amongst the public, with newspapers and adverts in the city might lead to those without a ticket tuning in to watch the game regardless. The new Tottenham stadium, built for the Tottenham Hotspur football club (soccer) has even been custom designed with this in mind. The pitch is able to be rolled up and taken away, giving way to a turf field that is exactly up to NFL specs.
The UK is a potential goldmine for the NFL where they can both sell rights to show the games on TV, as well as selling merchandise to the public. There has even been talk of permanently placing a team in London, although this is still very much speculation as the logistics associated with something like that are absolutely staggering.
A strong social media presence
A strong social media presence is absolutely key in today’s environment. The NFL has the very thankful job of putting together highlights that can draw people in. American football is an explosive game with flashy highlights being commonplace throughout all games in the league. These can then be edited together and put on display on Instagram and Twitter, leading to more people interacting with the NFL on a daily basis.
But it’s not only highlights that can attract people to watch more and spend more money. The NFL of today has a ton of strong and colorful personalities which lend themselves well to be followed. This creates a dynamic where there almost is just as much action in the trash talk and interviews, the drama of trades, and much more that the fans can follow to stay engaged.
The NFL has also done very well in establishing a strong presence on YouTube. Their subsidiary, NFL films, produces some absolutely stunning videos and highlight packages that talk about the history of the league as well as cinematic summaries of the biggest games of the season. This in turn leads to more people internationally finding the NFL, while also generating some revenue for the league itself. This is also extremely helpful for the league during the offseason, as they can keep interest at a high level throughout the spring and summer.
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