American football’s growing global ambitions

By Jon Fasman, Senior culture correspondent, The Economist

GEORGE WILL, a baseball-loving conservative columnist, once wrote that American football “combines the two worst things about America. It is violence punctuated by committee meetings.” Within America, Mr Will’s opinion is not widely shared: in 2023, 93 of the 100 most-watched television broadcasts were National Football League (nfl) games. In the rest of the world, American football remains niche at best, but the nfl is trying to change that. In 2025 the league will play eight games abroad—more than in any previous season.