American football’s NFL has announced a regional partnership with Australian restaurant chain The Sporting Global Bar & Grill ahead of the league’s first game in the country later this year.
As the league’s official sports bar partner in Australia, The Sporting Globe venues across the country become official hubs for NFL fandom, featuring watch parties, game-day food and beverage promotions, and large-screen activations.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
The new deal comes as the NFL prepares to stage its first match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on September 11, with the San Francisco 49ers taking on the Los Angeles Rams.
Coverage of NFL games in Australia is provided by commercial broadcaster Seven Network, as well as pay-TV broadcaster Foxtel and its sports streaming service Kayo Sports via a carriage deal with international sports broadcaster ESPN.
Under its rights agreement, struck last month, Seven Network secured regular-season primetime matches, Sunday afternoon fixtures, playoffs, and Super Bowl LXI, as well as the Melbourne game. ESPN, meanwhile, holds the streaming rights to the NFL and shows at least six games each week.
Charlotte Offord, NFL general manager – Australia and New Zealand, said: “As the game continues to grow across the country, partnerships like this play an important role in creating more opportunities for fans to come together and experience the excitement of the NFL in an authentic and engaging way.”
The NFL claims to have 8.8 million fans in the Australian market, a key driver behind its decision to stage a game at the 100,000-capacity MCG.
The partnership will launch at the NFL’s three-day Kickoff Festival at Melbourne Park, where The Sporting Globe will collaborate with gambling firm TAB to host a hospitality area that will feature an elevated rooftop viewing deck, mega screen, and garden terrace.
As part of the new agreement, The Sporting Globe will launch a ticket giveaway for the Melbourne fixture to drive engagement across its network of venues in the run-up to the match.
Additionally, the brand’s flagship Richmond venue will host appearances from the San Francisco 49ers Gold Rush cheerleaders and mascot Sourdough Sam.
The new partnership comes as the NFL ramps up its commercial activity ahead of the Melbourne game, most recently announcing asset management firm La Trobe Financial as an official partner earlier this month.
Other prominent sponsors of the NFL in Australia ahead of the international fixture include wine brand Y Series, airline flag carrier Qantas, the Visit California tourism board, and consumer goods giant Unilever’s condiments brand Hellmann’s.
Most recently, the shopping center chain Westfield joined that list, and will activate alongside the league across its locations in Australia and New Zealand.
The Melbourne game comes as the NFL steadily increases its footprint in the region, having launched an APAC academy and flag football initiatives as the sport prepares for its Olympic debut at Los Angeles 2028.
Australia will be the eighth international territory the NFL has played in, with the league having visited the UK (London), Mexico City, Germany (Berlin, Munich, and Frankfurt), Brazil (Sao Paulo), Ireland (Dublin), Toronto (Canada), and Spain (Madrid).
For the 2026 campaign, a record nine international games will be played, including three games in London, and single fixtures in Madrid, Melbourne, Mexico City, Munich, Paris, and Rio de Janeiro (Brazil).
Meanwhile, sports-focused social media platform BZZR has secured streaming rights to preseason games featuring the Los Angeles Rams ahead of the 2026 NFL season.
The deal will see BZZR stream all the team’s 2026 preseason games directly to fans on its platform, including clashes with the New Orleans Saints on August 22 and Los Angeles Chargers on August 27.
Rams chief commercial officer Jennifer Prince said: “When the league opened the door this offseason for teams to stream preseason games, we saw an opportunity to move fast and be among the first to bring all three Rams preseason games directly to fans in a new way.
“Partnering with BZZR allows us to combine their streaming technology and social-first platform with the strength of the Rams brand to expand access, meet fans where they are, and continue pushing the boundaries of how sports content is distributed and experienced.”
The new deal continues BZZR’s entrance into the market, having secured a partnership with Major League Baseball’s Texas Rangers as the team’s direct-to-consumer streaming partner last month.
The NFL 2026 regular season begins on September 9 and will run through January 20, 2027, with the playoffs starting on January 26. The Super Bowl LXI will close the season on February 14.
