Eagles add Brazil to international marketing territories as NFL expands Global Markets Program
The Eagles were one of the clubs involved in the launch of the initiative. The NFL awarded the Eagles the marketing rights to Ghana and Australia/New Zealand, making Brazil its third territory.
PALM BEACH, Fla. — The Eagles won’t be saying adeus to Brazil any time soon.
At the annual league meeting on Monday, the NFL announced an expansion of its Global Markets Program, including the addition of Brazil to the Eagles’ international marketing territories. The Eagles are no strangers to the biggest country in the southern hemisphere — they played the league’s first game in South America last year against the Green Bay Packers in São Paulo.
“We are thrilled to welcome Brazil to our growing family of international territories,” Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie said via the team’s website. “Having been granted these rights through the National Football League’s Global Markets Program, we will now have the opportunity to broaden the reach of our brand in a country where an authentic connection already exists.
“We were privileged to play in the first-ever NFL game in South America last season and through the Eagles Autism Foundation, we helped fund Brazilian-based autism research and care with a $400,000 pilot grant. We now look forward to establishing an even deeper connection in Brazil for years to come.”
» READ MORE: Tush Push pushback is just more Philly and Eagles hate from the NFL’s establishment
Since its launch in 2022, the Global Markets Program has grown to include 29 teams and span 21 international markets in an effort to promote the growth of the sport and the league across the world. The program allows teams to foster brand awareness in their awarded territories through fan engagement, commercials, events, and flag football initiatives.
“[International] games get the most visibility,” said Peter O’Reilly, the NFL’s executive vice president of club business, international, and league events. “What we talked about this morning is it’s about year-round, on-the-ground efforts to drive fandom, drive cultural relevance, and be in these markets for long-term with patience and making sure that our commitment is clear and we’re building fandom.”
The Eagles were one of the clubs involved initiative’s launch. The NFL awarded the Eagles the marketing rights to Ghana and Australia/New Zealand in 2022, making Brazil its third territory. Each of the rights was granted with a five-year term.
Jen Kavanagh, the Eagles’ senior vice president of media and marketing, discussed the team’s desire to play a role in international growth — particularly in Brazil — with The Inquirer in September.
“I think the vision is to make American football and the NFL a global sport,” Kavanagh said at the time. “In many countries today, there is sort of an existing understanding and passion for it, but I think there’s a lot of opportunity in many other countries, South America, Brazil in particular, being one of those, where you have a huge country with a huge population of people who are already huge sports fans, and it just feels like a great opportunity to introduce them to the NFL and the passion around the sport and the players and the stories and everything that comes culturally with it to make it more of a global phenomenon.”
The expansion of the Global Markets Program coincides with the league’s growing focus on international games, which will see an uptick in 2025. Next season, the NFL will host seven regular-season games outside of the U.S., including the league’s first game in Dublin with the Pittsburgh Steelers and a return to São Paulo featuring the Los Angeles Chargers.
In 2026, the league will hold a game in Melbourne, Australia, with the Los Angeles Rams as the designated home team. The Eagles are slated to play the Rams that season at the Linc, making them ineligible to be the visitors in Melbourne.
» READ MORE: From free agency to Dallas Goedert, five takeaways from Howie Roseman’s owners meetings media session
However, O’Reilly noted on Monday that teams with international marketing rights can have a greater chance of playing games in their designated countries, so the Eagles could make a trip to Australia or New Zealand in the future.
“It’s not fully defined that if you have those rights, you’ll get that game,” O’Reilly said. “But clearly, our scheduling team looks to match up those things. Clearly, with rights in the market, you’re activating year-round, and then the game’s an inflection point.”