Tackling New Grounds: The NFL’s Journey into the African Market

Ask any African man what his dream was growing up, and there’s a good chance he will tell you about being a soccer player. Africa is home to over a billion people and many of them are passionate about sports. Soccer, mostly. But there is a growing interest in American football, driven by different factors, such as the NFL’s aggressive international marketing efforts. Why not expand outside the US? Football is an interesting, physical sport that is attractive to watch. People from the US are entertained by top-level athleticism as much as people from Germany. Or Africa, for that matter. Fan growth is another major reason. NFL is growing each season, reaching almost 18 million viewers per game.

Broad Global Strategy for a Global Footprint

The NFL’s efforts in Africa are part of a broader, global strategy. Those familiar with sports can confirm NFL has made some major moves across all continents lately, in the hope of expanding its global footprint. European tours and playing NFL games in European stadiums were widely accepted as an attraction. But it’s not just the Old Lady that’s important for the league. Africa represents a key part of this strategy as well. The continent’s youthful population is particularly attractive. Young people are more likely to adopt new sports, but also more likely to engage with content online. This makes them a prime target for the NFL’s marketing efforts. For that reason, the league has launched several initiatives, including the NFL Africa program. This program aims to identify and develop talent in the region. It also seeks to grow the fan base by increasing awareness of the sport. The program includes different activities, ranging from training camps to fan engagement events, all designed to introduce the sport to a new audience. But marketing the NFL in Africa requires a nuanced approach. In a continent dominated by soccer, American football is still a relatively unknown sport, so to address this, the NFL is focusing on education, working to explain the rules of the game. That’s probably part one of this broader strategy.

Digital Platforms as a Leverage

Broadcasting is an important aspect of the NFL’s strategy in Africa. The league is working to secure broadcasting deals with local networks, which will help to increase the sport’s visibility. But partnerships with digital and sportsbook platforms are possibly the strongest leverage and the best opportunity for the league to reach the “critical mass”. Why? It’s because platforms like Premier Bet Malawi already have well-established operations in regional markets, and are experienced with curating the right type of content, live updates, and statistics (mainly for soccer). Sports betting is very popular in Africa, so betting platforms have a significant user base, and most importantly, understand the market well.

300-Million Market vs. 8 Billion Market

Why corner yourself to a domestic market only? Sure, North America is huge, but the world is much bigger. In other words – talent is global. The NFL’s entry into the African market is a long-term play, and the league understands that it will take time to build its presence, but is committed to making the necessary investments. Investing in local talent will pay off. Africa has a population of over one billion people and growing.

Knowing this, it’s easy to see why the NFL would be interested in African athletes. Remember that Africa has already produced several NFL players. That’s players drafted from Africa, not Africans who moved to the US. In 2020, Osi Umenyiora started The Uprise, a Nigerian recruiting initiative aimed at discovering the next generation of NFL stars from Africa. The results were instantaneous: three of the participants made it to an NFL team, one of whom — Chicago Bears offensive lineman Roy Mbaeteka — is still on a roster. That was followed by creating NFL programming across Africa, starting in Ghana in 2022 and expanding to Kenya and South Africa in 2023. Currently, there are 127 African players in the league, according to the NFL. That includes Jaxon Smith-Njigba and David Njoku, as two of the most notable examples.

The NFL’s journey into the African market is just beginning. There’s a long road ahead, but the potential benefits for the league are palpable. Africa represents a huge, untapped market, both as a talent pool and as a new fanbase.

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