BEREA, Ohio – Today, it was announced that the Cleveland Browns have been granted international marketing rights in Nigeria as part of the National Football League's (NFL) Global Marketing Program. The Browns are the first NFL club to select and be awarded the Nigerian market – in what is also the club's first entry into the Global Markets Program.
The National Football League has announced the growth of its 'Global Markets Program' for year three, with new clubs and new markets set to participate in 2024 following approval from the International Committee at the 2024 League Meetings in Orlando, Fla.
"We are excited to be awarded the Nigerian market to further expand the Dawg Pound to Nigeria. The game of American football continues to grow across the globe and Nigeria is an important market to be in with the increasing number of players across our league that take great pride in their Nigerian heritage," said Cleveland Browns Partner JW Johnson. "The Browns look forward to continuing to grow the game in Nigeria through the Global Marketing Program while learning from and connecting with the Nigerian community to cultivate more opportunities."
"The momentum of the Global Markets Program underscores the strong commitment of NFL clubs to growing the game and their passionate fan bases around the world. Clubs are seeing the value and opportunity in new markets and aligning with the league to accelerate that growth together," said Peter O'Reilly, executive vice president, club business, major events & international at the NFL. "We can't wait to see the ongoing impact of the program on fandom and global growth in this season and in years ahead, both in new and existing markets and via new clubs joining and active clubs deepening their strategic commitments."
The Global Markets Program, which launched in January 2022, was previously referred to as the International Home Marketing Areas program. The program grants NFL clubs access to international markets for marketing, fan engagement and commercialization activations as part of an important, long-term strategic effort to enable clubs to build their brands globally while driving NFL fan growth beyond the United States.
