NFL: Philadelphia Eagles Chooses Ghana As Home Country In Africa
The Philadelphia Eagles has chosen Ghana as its home country in Africa as part of the NFL’s International Home Marketing Areas program.
Ghana is part of three international countries including Australia, and New Zealand.
In May 2022, the NFL announced that the team could begin launching marketing and fan engagement efforts.
The Eagles were the first team to be granted access to Africa.
“The Philadelphia Eagles organization is privileged to have one of the most passionate and dedicated fan bases in all of sport,” Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Lurie said. “We are continuously looking for opportunities to connect with new fans while expanding the reach of our brand domestically and abroad. With the NFL identifying Australia, New Zealand, and Ghana as emerging markets for our league, we see a tremendous opportunity for our team to continue to touch and create ‘Eagles Everywhere.’
“We are extremely proud to be the first NFL team to launch marketing, fan engagement, and commercialization efforts in Africa as we establish a visible presence in Ghana,” Lurie added. “Organic ties with the Australia and New Zealand markets have already been made possible by the presence of three natives of the region currently on the Eagles’ roster. As an NFL team, we know we have a special platform to reach and connect with people around the world, and this program allows us to establish roots in these new markets.”
The International HMA initiative, which launched in January of 2022, grants NFL clubs access to international territories to expand NFL fan growth globally. Nineteen teams are situated in 30 International Home Marketing Areas across 10 different countries.
“We’ve seen great momentum since teams began entering their markets earlier this year,” said Peter O’Reilly, NFL Executive Vice President, Club Business & League Events. “From launching social media accounts to hosting in-market events to announcing draft picks from locations around the world, clubs are creating moments to engage and energize our international fan base.”
Ghana recently became the heart of one of the Super Bowl’s biggest commercials.
Titled “Born to Play,” the two-and-a-half minute advert saw an ensemble of current NFL superstars hurtling and hurdling through Accra’s bustling streets to celebrate the growth of the sport across the world and, crucially, the opening of global pathways to play at its summit.
The game waged by Saquon Barkley, Justin Jefferson, Cameron Jordan and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah may have been staged in the imagination of a football-mad young boy, but it ended at a very real location – the inaugural NFL Africa Camp in Accra.
There, the inspiration for the commercial – two-time Super Bowl champion Osi Umenyiora – awaited to greet the youngster, played by Eldad Osime. The British Nigerian, former New York Giants defensive end’s regional football program in Africa – called The Uprise – helped spawn the continent’s first camp in 2022.
The speech he gave then to a gaggle of hopeful youngsters served as the basis for a commercial broadcast Sunday in a prime-time slot to the largest television audience since the 1969 moon landing.
NB: Portions of the article first published in the Philadelphia Eagle in May 2022.
