Eager to entice 1.3 billion potential fans in the world’s second largest economy, the NFL dispatched legendary wide receiver Jerry Rice to China to toss pigskins with the country’s aspiring football players.
The trip was part of a relatively recent NFL strategy to attract Chinese supporters by demystifying the game and putting footballs in their hands — not through traditional television advertising. …
Part of the fan growth can be explained by the increasing number of ways NFL games can be viewed. The league has brokered deals with 20 regional channels that reach more than 96 million viewers, as well as deals to stream games and download games to watch on demand.
This is a necessity for growth when China’s far-off time zone means Monday Night Football really means Tuesday Morning Football.
[Ed – It’s bad enough to send teams to play in London. You’d need two bye weeks to send teams to Beijing for demonstration games.]
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