Sunny Mehta, responsible for International Marketing Strategy & Fan Development at the NFL, looks at the upcoming NFL game in Munich in an exclusive interview with sportsbusiness.at. He also explains how the collective “Country Roads” singing came about two years ago and why Vienna could be considered as a venue for an International Game.
++ sportsbusiness.at exclusive – the interview was conducted by Max Patak ++
The NFL has been a guest in London for many years with its so-called International Games, now not only at Wembley Stadium, but also in the ultra-modern arena at Tottenham Hotspur. In 2022, the game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with superstar Tom Brady and the Seattle Seahawks attracted worldwide attention as the 70,000 enthusiastic fans in Munich’s Allianz Arena sang to the sounds of “Country Roads” and painted an extremely warm-hearted overall picture that you can find in Europe’s football stadiums rarely experienced. An International Game followed in Frankfurt in 2023.
Driven by the positive development of the last five to ten years, the National Football League (NFL) entered the Brazilian market (São Paulo) for the first time in September 2024. Reason enough to take part in the “Sports Journey into the Future 2.0”. Sunny Mehtaworking in the NFL’s International Marketing Strategy & Fan Development Department, in Exclusive interview to talk about the development and goals of the NFL International Series, as well as to shed light on the upcoming game in Munich.
sportsbusiness.at: When you look back at the game between the Miami Dolphins and the Kansas City Chiefs in Frankfurt last year, what did you learn from that event and what was your “magic moment”? For example, was it when the entire audience sang “Country Roads”?
Sunny Mehta: Yes, that’s exactly that kind of moment. I think, and this is my very personal opinion, that we have learned from this that Germany and the DACH region love American football in a very unique and authentic way. They love the sport and understand it in a very American way. They know when to celebrate – they not only celebrate successful plays, but also during the game depending on the situation. I think this is fundamental to the growth of the sport as it is an advanced one [….]
