Interest in the NFL has steadily grown in the UK over the past decade, and now it’s estimated that there are around 13 million fans in the country. That’s not bad going for a country that’s soccer-mad, and it shows that opinions about football across the pond are shifting.

Despite this increasing interest, more needs to be done to keep people engaged all year round. The entertainment industry could help with this, as it could allow for more NFL content across different platforms.

London Games Have Helped Foster a Huge Fanbase

There have been regular-season games in London since 2007, and this has been a huge boost to interest in American football in the UK. Rather than simply watching the sport on television at unreasonable hours, fans have been able to experience the incredible atmosphere of NFL games in person. The events offer people the chance to feel like they’re in the USA without having to fork out for flights.

There are now four games per year held at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and these give people in the UK the chance to see a variety of teams. This can help solve the problem that some have of choosing who to support. If they see them live and enjoy the experience, they may be more likely to then follow them on television and in the news.

Even though these NFL games in the UK are clearly beneficial for boosting interest in the sport, there’s still so much more that needs to be done. For example, some teams may never get the chance to play in London, and therefore may find it harder to attract fans. For these franchises, branching out into digital entertainment that’s available on demand could be the way forward.

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Time to Build a 365-Day NFL Experience

There’s so much content from the NFL that people in the UK could engage with, but it may be handier for them if it were all in one place. A streaming service could take the opportunity to organize it all in one category and provide people with a wealth of interviews, documentaries, and analysis all found under a special NFL category.

It could also be an idea for NFL franchises to try to tap into the power of the British online casino industry, where there are already various sport-themed games. There are already titles like Big Football Bonus and Gold Trio Football that are based on soccer, so it would make sense to add to these with some NFL-themed titles.

Embracing the power of social media has been an excellent way for the NFL to stay relevant throughout the year. However, there is more that could be done. There could be a greater effort to promote fantasy games, for instance, and keep people engaged through that.

The NFL’s success in the UK could go on to act as a blueprint for it to take other countries by storm. It feels like the mission is almost complete for the British NFL crowd, but a few more puzzle pieces still need to fall into place. Once this happens, the NFL could spread more widely around the world.