Chart of the Week (Jun. 7) - Int'l Growth for N.A. Sports Leagues

For this week’s Arctos Insights chart of the week, we wanted to highlight the growing international presence of North American professional sports leagues and the opportunity to expand their reach and monetization potential.

As the Big 4 leagues ( National Basketball Association (NBA) , National Football League (NFL) , Major League Baseball (MLB) , and National Hockey League (NHL) ) have become increasingly global over the past three decades, there has been a greater push to play regular season games in international markets.

Through 2007, there was a relatively small number of international regular season games played across the Big 4 leagues, but that number has since trended upwards. From 2008 to 2016, there were an average of six played across all leagues; that number has more than doubled from 2017 to 2024, with an average of 14 regular season games played internationally per annum. Recently, MLB played its first ever regular season games in South Korea (2024), while the NFL will play its first regular season game in Brazil (2024) and Spain (2025) in the coming seasons.

From 2008 to 2016, there were an average of six played across all leagues; that number has more than doubled from 2017 to 2024, with an average of 14 regular season games played internationally per annum.

The rapid increase in international games has coincided with the rise of international talents, but we believe the Big 4 Leagues will continue to push for international regular season games for three main reasons: (i) to grow their international fanbase; (ii) to bolster rights agreements; and (iii) to execute on sponsorship opportunities. First, attendance at live games – especially those with an impact on post-season seeding – is the single most important determinant of sports fandom apart from playing the sport. Second, a growing number of non-U.S. fans will naturally lead to greater in-market demand for the product and increase the value of international media rights and revenue generated at the league level. Lastly, with increased fans and eyeballs on the sport, U.S. franchises have an opportunity to leverage their IP in foreign markets to help drive business outcomes while securing high margin sponsorship revenue. With leagues already implementing extensive international programs, we believe the Big 4’s international influence will continue to rise in the near term.