The NFL is leaning toward Mexico and Brazil as its looks for new int'l markets to stage games. Germany, which has also been on the league's radar, needs "more work," said Mark Waller, the NFL's EVP, International. The league's success in the U.K., along with growth in Canada, Mexico and China, Waller said, provided it with the confidence to start adding new geographical priorities. The NFL has focused on looking at stadiums in Brazil and Mexico since the two countries along with Germany were declared priority markets at the league's annual meeting in March. "[Over the] last six months we visited [Mexico] at least three times, with different groups of people, to look at the stadiums in Mexico City. And we’ve done the same work in Rio," Waller said. The league is increasingly looking at Central and Latin America as the next territories to stage games after the U.K. "That’s definitely where our focus is," Waller said. "We are honing our thinking much more to that." He added that the NFL is aware of the opportunity in Germany, but said there is more work that needs to be done to fine-tune media distribution in the market. During the offseason, the NFL acquired a set of new media partners in Germany, including ProSiebenSat.1 and Perform Group.
MEXICAN APPEAL: Waller confirmed Rio's appeal as a Pro Bowl site, adding that the event could happen there as early as '17. In terms of Mexico, the NFL believes a game in the country would not only be a success with the domestic fan base but also with its Mexican-American and Hispanic fan base in the U.S. "The ability to take a game to Mexico City would be really beneficial to both of those markets,” Waller said. A regular-season game in the Mexican capital is also on target for a debut in ’17, he added. The league’s int'l regular-season game strategy, which started in ’07 with the first NFL Int’l Series game in London, is “definitely paying dividends” as a lot of other markets are now looking to host games, according to Waller. “We feel in the last 10 years, we’ve established real momentum behind the international agenda."
