NFL Executive Peter O'Reilly confirms suspicion on how things will work with the Lions and an international game
On Monday, the NFL announced at the annual league meetings in Palm Beach, Florida, that 13 teams would take on global marketing rights in different countries around the world. The Detroit Lions were one of those teams. They will now have rights in Brazil. The speculation at that time was that the Lions could potentially […]
On Monday, the NFL announced at the annual league meetings in Palm Beach, Florida, that 13 teams would take on global marketing rights in different countries around the world. The Detroit Lions were one of those teams. They will now have rights in Brazil.
The speculation at that time was that the Lions could potentially have a game in Brazil at some point. Really, the speculation has always been that since the Lions also have marketing rights in Canada, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, they would someday get an international game because of those marketing rights.
We were able to ask NFL Executive Vice President, Club Business, International & League Events Peter O'Reilly if that speculation was correct and if the NFL does in fact consider marketing rights when making the schedule for international games.
"It does. It's not fully defined that if you have those rights, you'll get that game. But clearly our scheduling team looks to match up those things. Clearly, with rights in the market you're activating year-round, and then the game is an inflection point. So good examples from this year coming up will be obviously the Steelers rights in Ireland. This is an inflection point. Similarly, the Dolphins in Spain have had rights in Spain for a while. It's an opportunity to really shine a spotlight and propel those for the Colts with rights in Germany. So a lot of factors go into the schedule, but certainly that is one of them. We try to line that up both as a designated team. In some cases, where possible, look at, is there an opponent that may make sense, given their rights there as well."
So there you go, it matters, but the NFL is looking for a team to hit that inflection point and grow some popularity in the country they're planning to send them to. So far, the Lions have spent a lot of time in Germany with their social team, and that could be the country they're gearing up to play in soon. We'll see if and when that happens, but we know it won't be in 2025.
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Maybe the weirdest headline I've ever gone with, but there's a reason for it. We got a chance to catch up with Detroit Lions GM Brad Holmes at the 2025 NFL League meetings in Palm Beach, Florida, on Monday, and Holmes had some thoughts on Lions fans wanting the team to spend more money and […]
