Wearing a Miami Dolphins helmet during a wedding is a bold move. Wearing a Miami Dolphins helmet during YOUR wedding is extreme. Wearing a Miami Dolphins helmet during YOUR wedding in LONDON is downright insane. Yet that’s what Lee Whillington did at his ceremony in 2016. While the priest dolled out the vows of marriage, Lee squinted through the bars of his Miami Dolphins-themed helmet, while, from the neck down, he donned a three-piece suit with an elegant flower tucked into his breastpocket.
Lee was born in Horsham, London. He attended his first NFL game in 2005, when the Dolphins beat the Falcons 21-6. Something about the game enthralled him, and he took up the sport with an enthusiasm usually reserved for people born in Green Bay. Shortly after his introduction to football, he attended multiple Dolphins-themed events. He even travelled to Sussex to hear Jarvis Landry speak (I doubt Dolphins fans in Miami would even bother).
He became such a die-hard fan that, during his wedding prep, he floated the idea of a Dolphins-themed cake. Things snowballed from there. Color schemes centered around Dolphins aqua-marine colors. Bridesmaids dressed in light blue; groomsmen’s ties were the same color. It seemed only natural that the idea for the helmet would take hold. (I assume he’ll be showing his kids pictures of his wedding day with an amused smile…”Dad, what were you THINKING?”) Since then, he’s become a staple in Dolphins lore.
For a long time, international NFL fans like Lee have been lone wolves, dolphins without a pod. Throw a pebble in the sea of UK football fans, and chances are it would land on someone who thought football meant David Beckham’s hair or Wayne Rooney’s lack of it. Through systematic effort on the NFL’s part, things have changed.
Foreign fans like Lee have been popping up across the UK as the NFL has expanded its international marketing efforts. Just this Sunday, Dublin hosted a game between the Steelers and Vikings, which attracted over 74,000 fans (I hope Lee was one of them). The NFL’s success in international expansion comes down to their strategy. How did they turn a Londoner like Lee Whillington, and many more like him, into helmet-wearing-on-their-wedding-day type of fans? Read on for a breakdown of their approach.
Measuring Brand Awareness
Peter O’Reily was born in NYC, just outside of Westchester. He was the youngest of six. Some of his earliest childhood memories were of him lying under his father’s recliner, watching Notre Dame football. At heart, he was a fan, but when he joined the student manager program at Notre Dame, he saw the game from a different perspective. All the people and procedures that go into a successful sporting event often occur behind the scenes. As a student manager, he was one of those invisible parts essential for the successful operation of Notre Dame’s football team and their live games.
O’Reilly joined the NFL in 2005 as the Director of Fan Strategy and Marketing. He rose up the ranks and became Senior Vice President of Events in 2014. Among his many responsibilities was bringing the game to an international audience. Before O’Reilly took over, the NFL had done some preseason games abroad, but never a regular-season matchup. The first of its kind was orchestrated by O’Reilly in 2007.
A lot of behind-the-scenes work went into making that game a success. Filling up the stands with excited fans was the main challenge. O’Reily and his team targeted regions where demand was already high. After all, it’s easier to go where people already like you than to try and befriend a stranger.
Market research helped them find those regions. O’Reilly’s team analyzed digital marketing metrics, tracking mentions of the NFL on social media, and segmenting the mentions by country. Countries with more mentions were fans; countries with the most mentions were avid fans. They also tracked viewership of NFL games across different regions. It gave them a better idea of the level of engagement abroad, information they could later segment and compare.
Choosing between London or Australia became a no-brainer after analyzing the statistics—go to the place where you’re already liked and build from there.
Cultivating Brand Engagement
That place turned out to be London. The NFL then made an intelligent move. They planted seeds. A watch party in a Shoreditch pub. A Super Bowl viewing party in Walthamstow. A youth flag football league to teach people about the game and how to play it. Grassroots initiatives like this helped sow the seeds of interest and engagement. The NFL worked for years to boost enthusiasm before bringing a game to Wembley Stadium. When they finally decided to pull the trigger, they activated their third key attribute: successful partnerships.
Successful Partnerships
The first international regular-season NFL was a mudfest, low-scoring battle between Lee Whillington’s Miami Dolphins and Eli Manning’s New York Giants. On the surface, the game seemed like any other, but behind the scenes, it was anything but. The NFL needed to coordinate with a host of venues, authorities, and media agencies to make the game possible and successful.
Wembley Stadium was the venue of choice. The NFL worked with the Football Association to coordinate scheduling, security, and operational changes, from building field goal posts to ensuring the grass could maintain the weight of 350-pound men. On a national level, the GLA and Mayor of London’s office were involved to provide event permits, policing coordination, and funding for transport. The UK Home Office Border ensured that players, staff, and media could travel seamlessly to and from the UK. For broadcasting, Sky Sports and the BBC secured rights for local coverage, from pregame shows to fan stories and local features.
The negotiations to secure the venue and partner with European media outlets were structured for the long haul and were designed to accommodate the NFL’s long-term presence and growth in the UK.
Consistent Effort
That first game in Wembley Stadium was not a one-and-done, but a starting point for future growth and expansion. The NFL took the success of that game as an opportunity to double down on its grassroots initiatives, structure more contracts with NFL teams to play games in London, and build a dedicated international fan base that engages with football year-round.
Their efforts have brought about more Lee Whillingtons worldwide, from Europe to Australia and even South America. As they secure an even more global footprint, the NFL is a great example of how a brand with a new-to-market product can stir demand and profitably expand into new international markets.