NFL Mulls Games In Dubai Or Abu Dhabi As It Announces UAE Expansion

The NFL announced this week that the UAE has been added to the list of countries where teams can market themselves and there is the possibility of future games being played in the country.

The league announced an expansion of its Global Markets Program (GMP), with four new clubs set to participate in 2025 and two new markets added.

NFL in the UAE

Launched in 2022, the Global Markets Program awards NFL clubs international marketing rights to build brand awareness and fandom beyond the US, through fan engagement, events, commercial opportunities and NFL Flag development.

The UAE and Greece have been added to the program. In the UAE Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco 49ers and Washington Commanders were the selected teams given the opportunity to expand commercial operations in the country.

The NFL will play games in England, Spain, Germany, Ireland and Brazil in 2025, as it looks to expand interest in the sport of American football internationally.

A further game will be played in Australia in 2026. However, there is considerable interest from the NFL in playing in the UAE.

Peter O’Reilly, NFL Executive Vice President, Club Business, Major Events and International, said: “Definitely interest, high. Absolutely, interest is high. We don’t know the timing, and it’s really an ‘if’ in terms of whether we’ll play a game there.

“What I will say is that’s a market where there’s strong interest in our game on a year-round basis. I think that’s why you see three clubs raising their hand with interest there, it’s a market we’ll continue to explore.

“We’ve done some exploratory trips there to understand the viability of a potential regular season game in the market, but we’ve got more work to do there in terms of what that looks like over this next stretch.” 

In total, 29 clubs will participate in the Global Markets Program across 21 international markets — up from 25 clubs across 19 markets in 2024 — as the NFL continues to prioritise global growth and connecting with more fans across markets around the world.

O’Reilly said: “The expansion of the Global Markets Program in 2025 reflects the NFL’s continued focus to grow the game and connect with fans on a global scale.

“With more clubs entering the program and existing clubs adding to their global rights, and as the program expands to new markets, we are seeing strong momentum and impact in growing fandom worldwide together.”