LONDON, Aug 28 (Reuters) - The NFL plans to expand into new international markets, including Japan, as it seeks to build on growing interest outside the United States, the league's head of Europe and Asia-Pacific Brett Gosper said.
The league's 2026 regular season, which begins on September 10, will feature a record nine international games across seven countries, up from seven the previous year.
"Japan is a market of interest at the moment. There is a good following, good participation in that market as well... and a lot of sporting fans and an affinity with American sports like baseball and so on," Gosper told Reuters.
The former CEO of World Rugby, however, did allude to a potential limitation with scoring a touchdown in some Asian markets.
"Sometimes some of the markets are more challenging to grow because they're not on the U.S. game schedule or match window time schedule and therefore more challenging hours in Asia," Gosper said.
The NFL has exported its sport to territories like the United Kingdom, Brazil, Spain and now Australia, which will host the first of the nine international games on September 11 in Melbourne involving five-time Super Bowl champions San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams.
The objective it appears within the NFL ranks is to have more games internationally.
"The commissioner outlined this, there's a possibility that over the next coming years, we could build to a point of 16 games internationally outside of the U.S. - that potentially by 2030, that's something that he's mooted as a possibility," Gosper, a former rugby player, said.
Gosper asserts that the recent increases in international games benefit fans in the U.S. and abroad.
"Those increases in international games have usually come and been accompanied by a movement of a game from pre season into the main season so (U.S.) fans don't feel like they're losing a game to overseas, they have still a high volume of games in their market.
"So, for the moment, we see excitement around this, whether it be in the States or outside of the States."
According to the NFL, the UK is home to more than 17 million fans, with the country having hosted 42 games since 2007.
What furthers fan interest is the visibility of talent from markets where the NFL is seeking to establish a strong footprint.
"We've seen that effect with Jordan Mailata, particularly in Australia. A lot of fan growth, which we can attribute. A lot to the interest that he's engendered through the (Philadelphia) Eagles."
NFL's long-term goal is a clear one.
"Our objective... in 10 years would be to see ourselves rated very highly as a top three favourite sport in the countries that we operate in," Gosper said.
(Reporting by Streisand Neto, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
