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While it’s never explicitly stated, sports leagues with a global footprint are clearly in competition with each other in order to grow fanbases, capture television audiences, and get butts in seats in stadiums and arenas.
The English Premier League remains the most successful in terms of penetration, although it has found North America a tougher nut to crack than other continents. Still, if you are in downtown Melbourne or Manila, you’ll be just as likely to see people wearing a Manchester United jersey as you would be in Manchester itself.
The NFL, however, has been making serious inroads to grow its global presence. The league and its 32 teams have had a patient, yet targeted and dogged, approach, and it really seems to be working. Global interest is on the rise, including in the Premier League’s home market of the UK.
Moreover, you might argue that the 2025 NFL regular season, as well as what we have seen so far in the Playoffs, has been something of a gift to the league. Television audiences in the United States have risen by 10% on average, and we are likely to see similar healthy increases in international markets.
Tight races delivered on drama
In the simplest terms, the NFL felt enthralling and exciting across the regular season. We could cite half a dozen games that could have been potentially tagged as the game of the season. Data showed that by mid-October, over 100 games were settled by seven points or less; across the season, a joint record was set for games settled by three points or less.
Tight races for the Playoffs defined the season, with the sportsbooks’ Super Bowl betting odds seemingly changing every week. The Chiefs and Ravens, both tagged as preseason favorites, were vanquished. Other favorites, like the Bills, had to put it all on the line to make the Playoffs. Teams like the Patriots, Jaguars and Seahawks seemingly came from nowhere to top divisions and power rankings, despite being given little chance at the start of the season.
The Bears were comeback kings
The 2025 season felt like one where most fanbases dared to hope, at least for a time. A typical example was the Bears, tagged as the comeback kings of the season after fighting back from 4th quarter deficits on six occasions in the regular season (and one so far in the Playoffs). Fans have been engaged across the entire game, as teams like the Bears decided to throw caution to the wind and go for it.
The Premier League usually trots out marketing lines like “anyone can beat anyone” and “anything can happen,” despite the fact that only two different teams have won the competition since 2017. Yet, the NFL delivered on that this season. There was no sense of assuming your team would make the Playoffs and waiting until January to tune in for the action. The constant jeopardy is easily marketable.
Fans can enjoy dominant teams winning again and again, but it is all the easier to sell your sports ‘product’ to new markets and audiences when you can point to competitive games. As mentioned, we will have to wait until the conclusion of the Playoffs and Super Bowl to decide on whether we can call this a vintage NFL season, but the signs so far have been encouraging. It has been – in a word – exciting. And global audiences won’t have failed to notice.
