On Tuesday the Kansas City Chiefs announced that the National Football League has awarded the club additional International Home Marketing Area (IHMA) rights, extending the club's European footprint to include Austria and Switzerland.
"We have committed a lot of energy and effort into growing the Chiefs brand – as well as helping grow the NFL – internationally, and today's development is going to continue to allow us to invest in European markets," said Chiefs President Mark Donovan. "The game this season in Germany, much like our games in London and Mexico City, will create amazing opportunities for our fans. Given our history, we think we're uniquely positioned to take advantage of these expanded commercial and fan development rights in Austria and Switzerland, and we can't wait to get started."
Beginning immediately, the club can start activating elements of its marketing plans in both Austria and Switzerland, including paid advertising campaigns, signing local sponsorship deals, extending domestic sponsors internationally and looking to host fan events.
The Chiefs and the Hunt family have been involved in numerous international initiatives over the past three decades, investing in growing the game and its fanbase globally and helping showcase the best of the sport on the international stage. In addition to regular season international contests in London (2015) and Mexico City (2019), the club has participated in four American Bowl preseason games – Berlin, West Germany (1990), Tokyo, Japan (1994 and 1998) and Monterrey, Mexico (1996).
Chairman and CEO Clark Hunt has long been a leader on the league's international efforts. Hunt sits on the NFL's International Committee and served as the committee's Chairman from 2011-18. During his time as Chairman, Hunt was a strong advocate for expanding the league's international efforts and the NFL's footprint overseas. The league has now hosted 38 regular season games across the United Kingdom, Mexico and Germany, with every NFL team playing at least once internationally since 2011.
The Chiefs were originally awarded International Home Marketing Area (IHMA) rights for Germany and Mexico in December 2021 as part of the global growth of NFL football.
