NFL International COO Damani Leech said that the NFL “is not planning on playing a regular season game in Africa in the near future, but are instead focusing on making the game available to the continent’s fans,” according to Leonard Solms of ESPN.com. While at the NFL’s first camp in Africa, hosted by the Right to Dream soccer academy in Ghana, Leech said that football “needed to be widespread as a sport that people watch on TV, in order to build the fanbase for a live game.” Leech said, “We have no plans for a regular season game in Africa. I think there’s a lot of opportunity for us to do a lot with social and digital media, making sure that game content is widely available for people to view.” From the talent development on the continent through the programs, and they “identified 40 players from countries like Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya to attend.” Leech said that the aim “was to get talented players into the International Player Pathway and to the NFL Academy in London.” This is the NFL’s “first foray into what could be a valuable region for the business.” Leech: “What’s happening broadly in Africa in terms of population growth projections, urbanisation projections, availability of urban technology and broadband wi-fi. All of those things make Africa a (region) that in the next 25-30 years, we think, is going to be really powerful” (ESPN.com, 6/24).
