Meet the Nottingham graduate helping the NFL go global

In the battle for global sporting attention, few leagues are thinking as big or as boldly as the NFL. Best known for its hard-hitting action and Super Bowl finale, American Football remains a sporting and cultural juggernaut in the US, and has now set its sights firmly on international expansion. From sell-out stadiums in London and São Paulo to tie-ups with Netflix and YouTube, the NFL is turning American Football into a global media property.

At the heart of that effort is Richard Hudson (Business Management, 2010), based at NFL headquarters in Midtown Manhattan. Originally from the UK, and a graduate of Nottingham University Business School, Hudson is responsible for selling the league’s international media rights in markets across Asia, Canada, Australia and more. His role sits at the intersection of sport, entertainment, and global strategy, balancing fan growth, broadcast revenue, and long-term brand development.

“I primarily work with broadcasters and content platforms to distribute the NFL’s games to the widest possible audiences,” he explains. “It’s about finding the right partners, negotiating agreements, and then making sure those partnerships deliver for both sides - helping us grow viewership, engagement and ultimately fandom.”

After graduating from Nottingham, Hudson joined BT’s graduate scheme just as it launched BT Sport. A decade of commercial roles across BT, Eurosport and Discovery followed, before he moved to New York to become the NFL’s Director of International Business Development in 2023.

Hudson says the league’s success will ultimately be defined by how many fans it has worldwide. “We currently have more than 240 million fans globally, but our ambitions are far higher,” he says. “Unlike sports like soccer, which are played almost everywhere, American Football doesn’t have that same grassroots presence. So the challenge is making it relevant to people who may never have experienced it.”

"Distributing our broadcast rights so fans can watch our games on TV is clearly important to building that fandom, but it only forms part of our approach," says Hudson. The league is also focused on growing international audiences through games abroad, supporting clubs to build global fanbases, and establishing talent pathways to create what Hudson calls ‘local heroes’.

International series and building fanbases

The most visible of these tactics in recent years has been the regular season games the NFL plays internationally. NFL has been taking competitive games to London since 2005, but has broken new ground in recent years by adding to established markets like the UK and Germany with first ever games in Brazil, Ireland, Spain and as of next year; Australia.

“International games are a potent fan-building tool,” says Hudson. “They’re the best way for someone to understand what we’re about - to experience it live. We want to bring a world-class sporting spectacle, a bit of American pomp and ceremony, mixed with local flavour. Our recent game in São Paulo featured a Super Bowl-style halftime show with a Latin American artist, and we’re looking to do more of that.”

The league’s international schedule has grown from five to seven games this year, and Commissioner Roger Goodell has floated the idea of as many as sixteen in future. But Hudson says the aim is to build permanence, not just buzz. “We don’t want to be a roadshow that pitches up for a week and disappears,” he says. “We want to put down roots and become a regular part of the sporting calendar.”

Outside of international games, the NFL is also focused on growing loyalty at the club level - where fandom typically begins. Unlike soccer, where clubs can freely promote themselves globally, the NFL has implemented a more structured approach through its Global Markets Program (GMP).

Under the GMP, clubs submit detailed plans to market themselves in specific countries. These plans are stress-tested and approved based on strict criteria. Hudson explains: “Teams submit a plan outlining how they’ll grow their fanbase in that country. This ensures long-term, committed strategies rather than one-off promotions.”

From a business standpoint, the GMP allows the NFL to support each club, enforce brand standards, and ensure they maximise ROI by delivering effective strategies. One standout example is the Jacksonville Jaguars. Owned by Fulham FC chairman Shahid Khan, they have doubled down on the UK market, even playing an extra ‘home’ game at Wembley each season, demonstrating how long-term international commitment can drive both commercial and brand value for NFL franchises.

Local Heroes and the IPP

For the NFL, building a global fanbase also means developing players that audiences around the world can identify with. As Hudson explains, one of the most effective ways to grow fandom is by creating “locally relevant heroes” - athletes from outside the US who can inspire new supporters.

That idea drives the International Player Pathway (IPP), which scouts elite athletes from other sports and gives them the chance to train and compete for a place on an NFL roster. A headline example is Welsh rugby player Louis Rees-Zammit, who joined the Kansas City Chiefs before a brief stint with the Jacksonville Jaguars. His move drew headlines, but having decided his future is best served in rugby, he’s returned to that sport this year.

“Rees-Zammit is an incredibly gifted athlete,” Hudson says. “But the bar to make an active NFL roster is incredibly high. You’re up against people who’ve been playing since childhood, with playbooks running into the thousands of plays. It’s a tall order for any athlete to pick up in a handful of years.”

Others have succeeded. Australian Jordan Mailata, a former rugby league player, came through the IPP and is now a regular starter - and Super Bowl winner - with the Philadelphia Eagles.

To build future talent, the league also runs academies in the UK and, giving 16- to 19-year-old athletes top-level coaching alongside full-time education. Since launch, more than 40 graduates have earned scholarships at US universities.

And for those not chasing a professional career, the NFL is promoting flag football - a non-contact version of the game, similar to touch rugby, set to debut at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. With millions already playing worldwide, it’s helping make American football more accessible, diverse and global than ever before.

Streaming and social media

For all its success, Hudson admits the NFL faces a challenge in keeping the next generation of fans engaged. “Our games run for over three hours,” he says. “There’s a lot of commentary that young people won’t watch live sports in full, but in our experience it depends on the experience you create - and whether you meet them on the platforms they use.”

To that end, the league has struck deals with Netflix and YouTube to stream games globally, including a live Christmas fixture and this year’s São Paulo match. It’s also experimenting with “Alt-casts” - alternative broadcasts such as Nickelodeon’s SlimeCast - and working with influencers to reach new audiences. Social media presence is also critically important for audiences that want to engage with the NFL where timezones or other factors may limit their ability to tune in to live games.

“Our international social media reach is huge,” Hudson says. “Over half of the engagement we see on our official accounts actually comes from outside the US.”

Sometimes, that cultural connection happens organically. Taylor Swift’s unexpected link to the League through her relationship with Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce brought the NFL to the consciousness of a new global audience.

“Her involvement created a broader resonance that pulled in new and distinct fans,” he says. “It particularly worked well internationally: all of a sudden people would say, ‘Hey, she’s at this American Football game, what’s this all about?’”

And while the league saw an uptick in engagement, Hudson is ultimately realistic about the limits of that kind of virality. “You can’t build a brand or marketing plan around that, people will move onto the next thing,” he says. “But it was certainly helpful! In many ways the fact these two worlds collided is symptomatic of how much of a force the sport is in US; it really touches almost every part of US culture.”

Having spent a decade working in UK media, Hudson says the move stateside has been eye-opening. “It's hard to understate just how big of a juggernaut the NFL is in America,” he says. “In 2023, 93 of the top 100 most-watched TV broadcasts in the US were NFL games. The league makes more money than Europe’s top five football leagues combined.”

Despite that scale, Hudson says the fundamentals remain the same: connecting fans with the sport they love. “It’s been such an interesting learning experience,” he says. “I feel very privileged to work here, get to experience a new culture and fortunate to do the role I do.”