49ers and two NFL clubs evince interest in UAE to expand global fanbase
KUUMAR SHYAM (ABU DHABI)American Football or National Football League (NFL) is seeking to expand to the Middle East in recent months with the UAE identified as the most likely destination to host a regular season game. And three teams have shown interest in putting that pipeline dream into reality with commercial logic.The NFL on Monday announced the expansion of its Global Markets Programme, adding four new NFL teams and two new markets – Greece and the UAE.Just as the announcement was made, the San Francisco 49ers revealed that they have claimed stake and won the rights for marketing in the emirates along with two other clubs, the Los Angeles Rams and Washington Commanders. The latter is among the quartet of new teams to join the bandwagon in pursuit of commercial success; the other teams being the Baltimore Ravens, the Green Bay Packers and the Los Angeles Chargers.The programme extension details come as the NFL seeks to go the way of initiatives in other prominent American sports – NBA basketball pre-season games in Abu Dhabi and a Baseball United league in Dubai. In total, 29 clubs will participate in the global programme across 21 international markets – up from 25 clubs across 19 markets in 2024 – as the NFL continues to prioritise global growth.The 49ers are a good example of NFL teams cashing in on the momentum. Since acquiring rights in the UK and Mexico in the programme's inaugural year, the organisation has grown its fanbase in each market by at least 50%, becoming a top-two NFL club in both countries. Over 34,000 people have attended 49ers events and created a community filled with interactions. The franchise is ranked as a top-five club in eight countries worldwide.'Expanding into the UAE is a major milestone for the NFL. We're excited to team up with our world-class commercial partners, local community leaders, and the NFL in this next international expansion,' said Brent Schoeb, 49ers' chief revenue and marketing officer.After a period of research and learning, the 49ers plan to invest in Arabic digital and social platforms, in-person fan events, and community impact programmes teaching youth flag football, which makes its debut at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.Since December, the NFL has expressed that the possibility of playing a regular-season game in Abu Dhabi is being considered as part of attempts to stage matches outside America. The NFL has committed to playing seven games this season in destinations such as Mexico, the UK and Spain, while two more games will be added in 2026."We don't know the timing … but what I will say is that's a market where there's strong interest in our game, strong interest in growing our game on a year-round basis. I think that's why you see three clubs raising their hands with interest there,' said Peter O'Reilly, the league's executive vice president, to the NFL website.
'It's a market we'll continue to explore. We've done some exploratory trips there to understand the viability of the potential for a regular-season game in the market. We have more work to do there in terms of what that looks like over this next stretch. But obviously an important market and one that has hosted significant events in other sports in recent years, whether that's the NBA or global soccer. There are learnings there, but we really do it as we try to do all these markets in the right, thoughtful, cadence way."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Gulf Today
2 hours ago
- Gulf Today
Less selection, More prices
With summer in full swing in the United States, retail executives are sweating a different season. It's less than 22 weeks before Christmas, a time when businesses that make and sell consumer goods usually nail down their holiday orders and prices. But President Donald Trump's vacillating trade policies have complicated those end-of-year plans. Balsam Hill, which sells artificial trees and other decorations online, expects to publish fewer and thinner holiday catalogs because the featured products keep changing with the tariff rates the president sets, postpones and revises. 'The uncertainty has led us to spend all our time trying to rejigger what we're ordering, where we're bringing it in, when it's going to get here,' Mac Harman, CEO of Balsam Hill parent company Balsam Brands, said. 'We don't know which items we're going to have to put in the catalog or not.' Months of confusion over which foreign countries' goods may become more expensive to import has left a question mark over the holiday shopping season. US retailers often begin planning for the winter holidays in January and typically finalize the bulk of their orders by the end of June. The seesawing tariffs already have factored into their calculations. The consequences for consumers? Stores may not have the specific gift items customers want come November and December. Some retail suppliers and buyers scaled back their holiday lines rather than risking a hefty tax bill or expensive imports going unsold. Businesses still are setting prices but say shoppers can expect many things to cost more, though by how much depends partly on whether Trump's latest round of 'reciprocal' tariffs kicks in next month. The lack of clarity has been especially disruptive for the US toy industry, which sources nearly 80% of its products from China. American toy makers usually ramp up production in April, a process delayed until late May this year after the president put a 145% tariff on Chinese goods, according to Greg Ahearn, president and CEO of the Toy Association, an industry trade group. The US tariff rate may have dropped significantly from its spring high - a truce in the US-China trade war is set to expire on Aug. 12 - but continues to shape the forthcoming holiday period. Manufacturing activity is way down from a year ago for small- and medium-sized US toy companies, Ahearn said. The late start to factory work in China means holiday toys are only now arriving at US warehouses, industry experts said. A big unknown is whether tariffs will keep stores from replenishing supplies of any breakout hit toys that emerge in September, said James Zahn, editor-in-chief of the trade publication Toy Book. In the retail world, planning for Christmas in July usually involves mapping out seasonal marketing and promotion strategies. Dean Smith, who co-owns independent toy stores JaZams in Princeton, New Jersey, and Lahaska, Pennsylvania, said he recently spent an hour and a half running through pricing scenarios with a Canadian distributor because the wholesale cost of some products increased by 20%. Increasing his own prices that much might turn off customers, Smith said, so he explored ways to 'maintain a reasonable margin without raising prices beyond what consumers would accept.' He ordered a lower cost Crazy Forts building set so he would have the toy on hand and left out the kids' edition of the Anomia card game because he didn't think customers would pay what he would have to charge. 'In the end, I had to eliminate half of the products that I normally buy,' Smith said. Hilary Key, owner of The Toy Chest in Nashville, Indiana, said she tries to get new games and toys in early most years to see which ones she should stock up on for the winter holidays. This year, she abandoned her product testing for fear any delayed orders would incur high import taxes. Meanwhile, vendors of toys made in China and elsewhere bombarded Key with price increase notices. For example, Schylling, which makes Needoh, Care Bear collectibles and modern versions of nostalgic toys like My Little Pony, increased prices on orders by 20%, according to Key. All the price hikes are subject to change if the tariff situation changes again. Key worries her store won't have as compelling a product assortment as she prides herself on carrying. 'My concern is not that I'll have nothing, because I can bring in more books. I can bring in more gifts, or I can bring in just things that are manufactured in other places,' she said. 'But that doesn't mean I'm going to have the best stock for every developmental age, for every special need.' The retail industry may have to keep taking a whack-a-mole approach to navigating the White House's latest tariff ultimatums and temporary reprieves. Last week, the president again reset the rates on imports from Brazil, the European Union, Mexico, and other major trading partners but said they would not take effect until Aug. 1. The brief pause should extend the window importers have to bring in seasonal merchandise at the current baseline tariff of 10%. The Port of Los Angeles had the busiest June in its 117-year history after companies raced to secure holiday shipments, and July imports look strong so far, according to Gene Seroka, the port's executive director. 'In my view, we're seeing a peak season push right now to bring in goods ahead of potentially higher tariffs later this summer,' Seroka said Monday. The pace of port activity so far this year reflects a 'tariff whipsaw effect' - imports slowing when tariffs kick in and rebounding when they're paused, he said. 'For us consumers, lower inventory levels, fewer selections and higher prices are likely as we head into the holidays.' Smith, who co-owns the two JaZams stores with his partner, Joanne Farrugia, said they started placing holiday orders two months earlier than usual for 'certain items that we felt were essential for us to have at particular pricing.' They doubled their warehouse space to store the stockpile. But some shoppers are trying to get ahead of higher prices just like businesses are, he said. He's noticed customers snapping up items that will likely be popular during the holidays, like Jellycat plush toys and large stuffed unicorns and dogs. Any sales are welcome, but Smith and Farrugia are wary of having to restock at a higher cost. 'We're just trying to be as friendly as we can to the consumer and still have a product portfolio or profile that is gonna meet the needs of all of our various customers, which is getting more and more challenging by the day,' Smith said. Balsam Brands' Harman said he's had to resign himself to not having as robust a selection of ornaments and frosted trees to sell as in years' past. Soon, it will be too late to import meaningful additions to his range of products. 'Our purpose as a company is to create joy together, and we're going to do our very best to do that this year,' Harman said. 'We're just not going to have a bunch of the items that consumers want this year, and that's not a position we want to be in.' Associated Press
Gulf Today
14 hours ago
- Gulf Today
Raducanu books DC Open semis berth with Sakkari romp
Britain's Emma Raducanu defeated Maria Sakkari of Greece 6-4, 7-5 to reach the semi-finals of the ATP/WTA DC Open on Friday. It's her first WTA Tour-level semi-final in more than a year and her first on hardcourts in three years. In her third appearance in the nation's capital, Raducanu took one step further than she did in 2022 and 2024. Her quarter-final record improves to 3-9 and her career mark against Sakkari climbs to 4-0, reported WTA. On the tournament's hottest day so far -- the temperature hovered in the middle 90s but it felt close to 100 -- it was Sakkari who got out of the blocks the fastest. Thanks to two double faults by Raducanu, she forged to a 2-0 lead. Raducanu won the next three games, and they were level at 4-4 when Raducanu scored the decisive break with a deft, sharply angled backhand return. She served it out, converting her second set point. Sakkari took control of the second set and was leading when Raducanu re-asserted herself. After holding serve, she broke Sakkari to get back on serve, converting her fourth opportunity with another sweet backhand return winner. After a brief visit from the trainers, Raducanu broke Sakkari. Two errant forehands were the culprit before Raducanu served it out. Emma Raducanu shakes hands with Maria Sakkari after winning the match. AFP Venus Williams' return to tennis came to an abrupt end in the last 16, with the veteran American losing to Poland's Magdalena Frech in straight sets. The 45-year-old seven-time Grand Slam singles champion, playing this week for the first time in 16 months, had become the oldest woman to win a WTA match in more than two decades with Tuesday's first round win over Peyton Stearns. But Venus found the going harder against fifth seed Frech third round clash, losing 6-2, 6-2 in 1hr 13min. Venus said she was nonetheless satisfied with her return to competitive tennis. 'I had so much fun,' Venus said. 'Not the result I wanted (but) I got to play a lot of matches, definitely a plus. I couldn't be happier... 'I ran out of gas today to have fell short. But I know I can play better and I know I will play better,' added Venus, who is due to play in next month's Cincinnati Open after being handed a wild card into the event. Frech will face third seed Elena Rybakina in quarter-finals. Frech seized the early initiative with a dominant first set performance, breaking Williams in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead. The Pole duly held for a 4-2 lead and then broke again when Venus' serve unraveled in the seventh game. The American double-faulted twice in quick succession to hand Frech three break points, and she converted the first to go 5-2 up, before holding to close out the set. Venus was soon in trouble in the second set, blasting a routine smash well beyond the baseline to give Frech two break points in the first game. Frech pounced on that chance to grab the break for a 1-0 lead and then held for 2-0. Venus held for 2-1 but was unable to threaten on Frech's serve in the fourth game as the world number 24 took a 3-1 lead. Agencies
Al Etihad
a day ago
- Al Etihad
Trade on agenda as Trump lands in Scotland for diplomacy and golf
26 July 2025 01:02 TURNBERRY, United Kingdom (AFP) US President Donald Trump landed in Scotland on Friday for a five-day visit set to mix diplomacy, business and leisure, as a huge UK security operation swung into place amid planned protests near his family-owned golf resorts. The president, whose mother was born in Scotland, will split his time between two seaside golf courses bearing his name, in Turnberry on the southwestern coast and Aberdeen in the Force One, carrying the president and White House staff, touched down at Prestwick Airport near Glasgow shortly before 8:30 pm (1930 GMT). Police officers lined the surrounding streets, and several hundred curious Scots came out hoping for a glimpse of the US leader as he then made his way to Turnberry by has no public events scheduled for Saturday and is expected to play golf at his picturesque resort before meeting EU chief Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday for trade is also due to meet UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer during the said the meeting would be "more of a celebration than a workout," appearing to row back on previous comments that a bilateral trade deal struck in May needed "fine-tuning"."The deal is concluded," he told reporters on the tarmac at the unpredictable American leader appeared unwilling to cede to a UK request for reduced steel and aluminium tariffs. Trump has exempted British exports from blanket 50 per cent tariffs on both metals, but the fate of that carve-out remains unclear.
