Will Irish Fans Continue to Embrace the NFL?

Whatever way we look at it, the last twelve months have been a historic period for American football in Ireland. We had, of course, the first-ever NFL game in Croke Park in September. While not everyone is happy with foreign sports at Croker, it was an incredible occasion, one that really put the country on the map for its ability to host major sports events.

Moreover, there was the arrival of County Down man, Charlie Smyth, to the NFL, starring as a kicker for the New Orleans Saints. Smyth’s background in Gaelic football has raised the prospect of others crossing the Atlantic to do the same. We also had the continuing Aer Lingus College Football Classic, which saw Iowa State take on Kansas at the Aviva Stadium. The event is unique, and it’s a really interesting way to shine a spotlight on gridiron outside of the NFL roadshow.

Super Bowl LX will be shown free on Virgin Media

But will we see Irish fans continue to embrace the NFL? Of course, you might say that it is already here to stay. There are an estimated 350,000 NFL fans on the island, which is a fair chunk of the population. Many will be watching the action on Virgin and having a bet on Super Bowl LX in a couple of weeks. It’s still fairly niche compared to (Gaelic) football, hurling, soccer and rugby, but it is making inroads.

While hosting the NFL games are key, and we have seen the league’s focus on London across the last decade, television coverage is also critical to the NFL’s ambitions. You can get most of the action via Sky Sports, but it’s arguably more important to access free-to-air coverage. Virgin has the rights to the Super Bowl on the 8^th of February, and it showed the first free-to-air NFL Playoff game in Ireland since the early 1990s in January.

Another intriguing aspect is what the NFL terms HMAs (home marketing areas). These are basically spheres of influence agreed on by NFL teams, allowing teams specific access to marketing activities in specific countries. In short, it’s an agreement that says, “We are concentrating on this country to build our fanbase, so the rest of you stay out.”

Several big teams are targeting Ireland

Ireland’s HMA is limited to the following teams: The Pittsburgh Steelers, Green Bay Packers, Kansas City Chiefs, New York Jets, Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars. The first three on that list, in particular, are big draws for Irish fans, and have had huge historic success in the NFL. They all realise Ireland’s value as a secondary market, so you can expect plenty of marketing activity from them in the coming years.

There are, most certainly, arguments that the NFL will have a ceiling in Ireland. It must compete with other sports for attention and participation. The GAA has global ambitions of its own, but it will certainly remain covetous of its position as the key driver of grassroots sports across the island. Younger generations might have their heads turned by the prospect of playing gridiron, though the building of facilities and coaching structures would likely take decades, rather than years.

Our best bet is that the NFL holds firm as a niche sport in Ireland. It will likely be several years before a regular-season game returns to these shores. In that time, the league will likely build up its marketing network, including increasing its broadcasting partnerships. Yet, it’s clear the fandom is growing. It just remains to be seen what the limits of that growth are.