NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell weighs potential for an international team

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is weighing the imaginable for an planetary team.

"I would accidental that the markets extracurricular the U.S. are very, precise attractive," Goodell told CNBC successful an exclusive interview. "And we've got beauteous bully sum here."

The league has been expanding planetary play successful caller years, with match-ups this season taking spot successful Brazil, Ireland, England, Germany and Spain. It's agelong seen occurrence with games successful London, successful particular.

Goodell said lasting up a London-based squad was "possible," adding, "There are markets that could surely enactment a team. We've ever focused on, what are the competitory consequences of that? Can we negociate that? And truthful each twelvemonth we effort to larn thing from the planetary series." 

The Minnesota Vikings are playing back-to-back planetary games successful the coming weeks, thing Goodell said has "never been done before." 

The Vikings volition play the Pittsburgh Steelers successful Dublin connected Sunday, followed by the Cleveland Browns successful London connected Oct. 5. 

"It starts to springiness you a consciousness of, tin you bash definite things that are going to beryllium indispensable from a scheduling standpoint and a grooming standpoint? When we archetypal came up with the thought of [an international] regular play game, I didn't deliberation determination would beryllium arsenic overmuch support. But now, each squad wants to bash it," Goodell said. "We don't person to speech them into it. They're asking us."

Mark Shapiro, longtime sports media enforcement and presently the president and main operating serviceman of TKO Group, said past week planetary enlargement for large sports leagues "is a winner."

"I deliberation this planetary play ... I'm not speaking arsenic a information ... is not profitable yet, but it volition be," Shapiro said of the NFL's aspirations overseas astatine the IMG x RedBird Summit successful England.

"As U.S. rights holders, we conscionable spot things done the U.S. lens. It's precise myopic," helium said. "Do it close successful immoderate of these different countries. Do it close successful Europe. Do it close successful Asia."

A Week 1 NFL crippled successful Brazil, streamed connected YouTube, drew 16.2 cardinal U.S. fans and 1.1 cardinal planetary fans, showcasing the maturation imaginable of the league if Goodell tin grow the crippled globally. 

Shapiro said portion planetary clip zones tin airs a challenge, it's not needfully a caller hurdle, noting the difficulties with scheduling adjacent wrong U.S. borders, owed to West Coast games.

"The bottommost enactment is, you're ne'er going to get that right. You're ne'er going to get a clip portion that works for everybody," said Shapiro. "When you commencement talking astir events being planetary successful nature, it conscionable gets adjacent harder connected the clip zone, but you person to adjust."

Goodell praised the league's concern with YouTube, specifically citing the platform's quality to scope a younger audience. YouTube acquired Sunday Ticket from DirecTV 3 years ago, and the Brazil crippled was the first-ever crippled connected the main, escaped platform. 

"I deliberation there's truthful galore antithetic directions that narration volition go, and it won't beryllium one, it'll beryllium many," Goodell said of YouTube. "Sunday Ticket has been a immense deed for them arsenic good arsenic for us."

Sources acquainted with the substance told CNBC that Sunday Ticket presently has betwixt 2 cardinal and 5 cardinal subscribers – so, much than DirecTV had but inactive a somewhat niche product.

"It's hitting a younger demographic," Goodell said. "It's the exertion they bring. They're changing the mode radical are watching sports, whether it's multiview oregon conscionable for creators."

Still, Goodell pushed backmost connected the conception that younger viewers aren't watching afloat games anymore.

"I cognize everyone says kids don't watch. That's not true, successful our experience," helium said. "I deliberation they whitethorn beryllium watching with aggregate screens oregon respective devices. They're watching their phantasy squad oregon they're watching immoderate aspects of the game. But that's fine. That's what we do."

Shapiro said burgeoning media partners similar YouTube volition lone proceed to assertion stock and boost media rights valuations.

"Why hasn't YouTube jumped in, successful a large way, astatine this point?" Shapiro said, adding that Sunday Ticket was a mode of getting the company's "feet wet."

"Obviously, they are making wealth manus implicit fist. They're moving a business. It's a destination for everyone," Shapiro said. "Forget determination is nary demo — it's the satellite that's their demo."