When the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New Orleans Saints walk onto the turf of the Stade de France on Oct. 25, the National Football League (NFL) will stage its first competitive game on French soil. It’s part of a record nine-game international run this season, spanning four continents and seven countries, including London, Madrid, Melbourne, and Rio de Janeiro.
The series is part of the NFL’s strategy to deepen its foothold in Europe. “We’re using the game as a catalyst,” Tim Ellis, the league’s chief marketing officer, tells Fortune. “To get people interested, to get them talking, to get the media to pay attention.” For Ellis, the 80,000 tickets available for the Stade de France game matter far less than the millions of fans the league hopes to convert in the weeks and months after the final whistle.
