It doesn’t take Brett Gosper long to bring Germany’s passion for the NFL to life.
The Australian, who was appointed head of Europe and UK in January 2021, spent nine years growing the worldwide appeal of an established sport as World Rugby CEO.
Nowadays his remit is continental growth – a task made easier by the love of the sport in the NFL’s historical European home.
It’s ubiquitous in Germany. When I visit I always get the feeling that you talk to the taxi drivers about the NFL – but not quite here,’ Gosper says from the NFL’s London office.
The Allianz Arena will soon host its first NFL game and there was a HUGE demand for tickets
‘As a sport maybe it scratches an itch that other sports don’t in that market. Rugby is not a big game in that market – there is not another contact sport.
‘There’s a lot of professional sports kicking around in England, from cricket, to rugby, to football, and so on. And the NFL still finds its way in that competitive landscape.
‘But in Germany, there just seems to be a wider possibility to come in and occupy a space that maybe is not occupied by someone else.’
England has been the NFL’s beachhead for international expansion building up to and beyond the first regular season game staged at Wembley in 2007.
By the end of October the capital will have played host to 33 match-ups across Wembley, Twickenham and the sport’s home away from home, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The NFL will soon tick off another stadium as it expands into mainland Europe. With an office now open in Germany, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will play the Seattle Seahawks at Bayern Munich’s Allianz Arena on November 13.
Brett Gosper has been tasked with expanding the NFL’s reach in the UK and across Europe
‘There is high demand for these games in Europe, particularly in Germany given the novelty factor,’ Gosper adds.
‘There were 800,000 people queuing for one game of football. Ticketmaster said they have never seen anything like it. They extrapolated that in terms of demand our analytics say you could have sold three million tickets – basically 500,000 more than a rugby World Cup! It’s a big, big, big demand.’
While Tottenham Hotspur is a purpose-built NFL stadium – complete with retractable pitch, giant locker rooms and luxury hospitality – the Allianz Arena had to undergo a mild facelift over the summer.
‘Bayern have been really good partners in helping us prepare that stadium. They’ve let us tinker with their field and stadium – we’ve had to lengthen the field to make sure that the run offs are deep enough for player safety.
It’s just adding turf to the back end so the run offs in the end zone are long enough to provide stopping space for the players. It’s not a huge extension, but some work has taken place to extend it a couple of meters.
‘We also reconfigured some of the locker rooms to get the right space, the right number of showers and so on.’
Tom Brady is a massive draw for NFL fans in Germany and the rush to get tickets was huge
Germany will play host to at least one game a season for the next four years, alternating between Frankfurt and Dortmund. Are there any grand designs to play in another European cathedral, such as the Bernabeu or Nou Camp?
‘There’s no current plans for that,’ Gosper says. ‘But the NFL talks to a lot of stadiums around Europe, whether it be for potential preseason games – it’s good to know who would be ready to take a game and who would be interested under what terms.
‘We keep a constant dialogue with a number of stadia just to keep that understanding. Whether it be in France, Spain, other markets and so on. It’s never out of the question to go to a place like Spain or France as well. At this point obviously we haven’t gotten the inventory, but there may well be in the future.’
While there is great enthusiasm for the German market, Gosper is keen to underline the commitment made to London.
In 2018, the NFL signed a 10-year deal to play at least two regular season games at Tottenham and the Jacksonville Jaguars added to that by continuing to play one game at Wembley for the next three years.
Quarterback Geno Smith will be among the Seahawks’ traveling contingent in November
‘I really think Tottenham is the home because our international base is in London. It was purpose-built, we’ve got a 10-year deal with Tottenham. It’s a strong, long-standing partnership. It is the only purpose-built NFL stadium in Europe.
‘Can I see us creating as deep a relationship as that in another market in Europe in the near future? No.
‘Yes, we have a good partnership now with Bayern, but that’s over a shorter period and it’s also alongside the relationship that we also have under contract now with Frankfurt as well.’
Before he departs, what of the f-word? The talk of a franchise relocating to London has gone quiet in recent years and Gosper is realistic about the chances.
‘We’d love for that to happen. There are lots of things that have to happen to make that happen. But the main thing that’s got to happen is that an owner has to see their future in another market than the one they’re in. Until someone puts their hand up for that it’s very hard to evaluate that seriously,’ he says.
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