As the NFL world turns, the league’s international slate resumes this week with the Vikings and Jets facing off Sunday in London, England. And as the global expansion of the league continues, there’s one corner of the world the NFL may soon penetrate.
The NFL conducted a site visit to Abu Dhabi within the past year, five sources told CBS Sports, scouting out the United Arab Emirates capital city to potentially host an NFL regular-season game in the coming years.
The Middle Eastern city is one of several site visits for the league, according to sources. The NFL has also looked at Paris, France; Barcelona, Spain; Rome, Italy; Dublin, Ireland; and the Australian cities of Sydney and Melbourne.
The NFL has held regular season games outside of the United States, beginning first with Mexico City, Mexico, and expanding in 2007 to London, England, where more international NFL games have been played than any other nation. This year the NFL will produce five games outside of America: A Week 1 game in São Paolo, Brazil; three in London; and one in Munich, Germany.
Next season, the NFL can expand its international helping to eight games. The league has already stated its intentions for a 2025 game in Madrid, Spain, and it’s logical to assume the two London games plus a Germany game will continue. The NFL has also hoped to return to Mexico City after a two-year hiatus due to stadium construction, and the Brazil game was considered a success by many in the league office.
“As the NFL looks to expand its international footprint going forward, the league is evaluating sites for potential future games in markets such as France, Ireland, Australia, Italy, UAE and multiple others,” a league source said, “as well as a likely return to Brazil and Mexico, a first-ever game in Spain next season and continued games in London and across Germany.”
That still leaves at least two slots open to hit the maximum number of eight games in 2025. And when — not if — there’s an expansion of the regular season to 18 games, it will help make NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s dream of 16 international games far more feasible.
“The UAE is not necessarily next on the list,” a source said. “But there’s a feeling inside the league a little bit that it has ‘done’ Europe. The UAE feels like branching out.”
The site survey in Abu Dhabi shows the continued desire for international expansion of America’s most popular sports league, while also raising questions about the unique challenges of exploring a nation so different culturally and in governance from America.
“Abu Dhabi is theoretically the safest political harbor of all the places in the Middle East,” one high-ranking NFL team executive told CBS Sports. “Saudi Arabia, clearly not. Qatar, no. If I’m in the NFL and see the fact the NBA has done it (for) three years and they’re way more progressive, you’re safest doing it.”
This weekend, the NBA’s Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets play two preseason games in Abu Dhabi as part of the league’s agreement with the city’s culture and tourism department. That partnership is now in its third year, and it shows the UAE’s belief in sports helping grow both its economy and reputation on a global scale.
In announcing the partnership in 2021, department head Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak said: “Today’s announcement further demonstrates the emirate’s position as a top-tier home for global sports and for attracting the very best talent. Abu Dhabi is committed to further developing as a dynamic global destination, adding the NBA to our impressive year-round portfolio of sports and entertainment events, only reinforces the UAE capital’s standing as a centre of sporting excellence.”
Abu Dhabi has grown rapidly in recent years thanks to the incredible wealth related to oil money as well as a robust tourism plan chaired by the crown prince. The “Tourism Strategy 2030” calls for an increase in visitors from 24 million in 2023 to 39.3 million by 2030, as well as a nearly doubling the UAE’s annual GDP in that same time frame.
“Money is fueling it all. It’s hard to disagree with that,” one source said. “But the league has to be aware of what it’s getting into.”
There are various human-rights concerns related to the UAE.
Freedom House, an American organization that monitors freedom and democracy globally, rates people’s access to political rights and civil liberties in countries across the world. The United Arab Emirates scored an 18 out of a possible 100 on its global freedom score, a grade that comes with the label of “not free.” That score was just above Venezuela at 15 but below Qatar at 25, for comparison. The United States of America scored an 83, while Mexico at 60 had the lowest current score of any country to host an NFL game.
“There are certainly people at the NFL whose eyes are wide open about the culture,” said a source. “The NFL (is) not entering this lightly with the different issues and reactions people may have. [The NFL gets] treated differently even though other leagues have gone there.”
Hosting a game in Abu Dhabi would also pose logistical challenges.
For a team on the USA’s east coast, the flight would be about 12 hours, with a 14-hour return. Additionally, there’s an eight-hour time difference.
That would be the longest flight and biggest time difference the NFL has experienced in its time staging international contests. Based on that alone, the travel would almost surely involve a bye week following the game for both teams.
The league has shown it has a stomach for long travel and uncomfortable scheduling, though. The Packers took an 11-hour flight to Brazil last month. And the league figured out a way to stage two Christmas Day games later this year on a Wednesday while having those four teams play the previous Saturday.
And then, of course, there’s the money.
“From a commercial revenue standpoint, it has unlimited potential,” a second high-ranking NFL team executive said. “You definitely have to explore it.”
The NBA is hardly the only sports league that has involved itself in the Middle East and, in particular, the UAE. The UFC has hosted events in the UAE dating back to 2019. FIFA awarded the 2022 World Cup to Qatar (a decision that helped drive a massive corruption case against the global soccer governing body). And the Saudi-backed LIV Golf league has disrupted professional golf like nothing before.
Sovereign wealth has become more relevant in American sports in recent years. The Abu Dhabi United Group is a private equity fund that owns a majority stake in Manchester City and the MLS’s NYCFC, among other sports properties.
Over the summer, NFL owners approved a resolution allowing private equity funds to get involved in the league. PE funds can invest in a maximum of six teams and shares of between 3 and 10 percent of each team. That ownership would be passive — meaning no voting rights — and eight funds have been provisionally approved. But the league set up guardrails that would prohibit sovereign funds like the Abu Dhabi United Group from directly investing in teams.
Talk of private equity within the NFL has gone on for decades, but discussions heated up in recent years as team valuations — and the costs of running the business — have soared.
And while the NFL generated upwards of $20 billion last year, there’s always more to be had. Times are changing and cultural moods are shifting. As professional sports continue to tour the Middle East, the NFL may not be far behind.
Said a high-ranking team source, “I’d be surprised if they didn’t get there eventually.”
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