Premier League seeks out NFL ambassadors in Aaron Rodgers and Saquon Barkley
Forward of the Giants-Packers sport in London, the English Premier League seemed to search out some model ambassadors in two of the NFL’s greatest stars: Aaron Rodgers and Saquon Barkley.
Roger Goodell desired to continue the NFL’s relationship with the UK ever for the reason that remaining days of the Europa League, an experiment that never fully took off however served as each a testing floor and pseudo minor league for the NFL. However out of this failure got here the international series in London (and Mexico City), bringing groups throughout the pond throughout the common season. What began as a single sport annually has morphed into three.
On Sunday, the New York Giants face the Green Bay Packers at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in North London. Shockingly, it’s the primary time for the reason that begin of the worldwide collection that two teams with winning records will square off in London. The video games have lengthy been affected by mediocrity, with many smaller market groups making the journey through the years. However this lack of main franchises hasn’t stopped followers from popping out in droves to observe American soccer. The games have historically sold out fast, with the overwhelming majority of attendees being native Londoners and never People or expatriates.
Whereas the first purpose of the worldwide collection is to develop the NFL model throughout Europe, the English Premier League has taken the chance to do some guerilla advertising and marketing of its personal.
Aaron Rodgers champions Manchester Metropolis, whereas Saquon Barkley receives customized jersey from Tottenham Spurs
In the summertime, Lambeau Field played host to a friendly match between FC Bayern Munich and Manchester City. Packers QB Aaron Rodgers is an avid City supporter and met up with City’s star forward Erling Haaland earlier than the sport to trade jerseys.
Not trying to be outdone and in addition acquire an NFL ambassador of their very own, the Tottenham Hotspurs tried to get one of many sport’s brightest younger stars into their flashy new 2022 kits. Whereas attending press occasions on Saturday, the Spurs gave Giants RB Saquon Barkley some gear to don again in New York.
Whereas the NFL stays the gold customary amongst skilled athletics leagues, the English Premier League has grown rapidly over the past couple of decades. It has equally expanded its presence within the US with TV offers, merchandising, and its personal slate of offseason exhibition video games to attract out American supporters.
These pleasant exchanges between Rodgers-Manchester Metropolis and Barkley-Tottenham are clearly enjoyable for followers and nice advertising and marketing gimmicks, however the NFL and EPL are every within the enterprise of rising their international footprints. And cross-sport marketing to new fanbases will proceed to be an necessary lever for each leagues to drag.
