The news: The NFL is looking to reach more international viewers and advertisers fresh off the start of its new season. The sports league is partnering with Roku to launch NFL Zone, a media hub within Roku Sports that brings together content from past and upcoming games, in Brazil, Canada, and Mexico. Users in those countries and the UK will also be able to access free, ad-supported streaming service the NFL Channel via Roku.

The launch is part of the NFL’s broader expansion into international markets. In the first 11 weeks of the season, the NFL will host nine games across Australia, France, Brazil, Mexico City, Germany, and more. Japan may be next, per a report in The New York Times.

Zooming out: Expansion into foreign markets gives the NFL more viewers, more ad space, and more licensing opportunities.

The NFL is the premier US sports league, commanding the largest viewership and share of sports ad dollars; estimates range from 40% to 60%, per our recent report on US football ad spending.

Licensing to TV networks and streaming services is also highly lucrative. ESPN will pay $2.7 billion annually starting this season for Monday Night Football rights; the league is aiming for $25 billion in revenues by 2027, and its combined media rights are valued at $110 billion over the next 11 years, per S&P Global.

Expanding internationally creates more advertising opportunities and relationships with foreign marketers while opening the door to yet more streaming and TV rights deals.

Why it matters: The NFL is already seeing success in foreign markets, and as viewership climbs, so too will ad costs. A Super Bowl 30-second spot can cost about $10 million, but even ads in regular season games can run as high as $800,000 to $1 million, per Roku Advertising.

Those costs are prohibitive for many advertisers, but secondary-media hubs like NFL Zone offer lower-cost ad space. Nearly half (47%) of Gen Z viewers ages 18 to 24 are replacing live games with clips and highlights, per a Bango survey, making that inventory valuable for reaching younger viewers. A February IRIS Sport survey found that viewers ages 18 to 24 spend 2 hours and 20 minutes watching sports highlights and clips.

Implications for marketers: The NFL is only becoming more of an advertising titan. It’s increasingly important for advertisers to appear alongside NFL content as the league grows at home and abroad. Launches like NFL Zone allow them to reach those audiences at less-prohibitive costs.

These channels also let higher-budget advertisers reuse creative assets for performance marketing; an ad campaign that costs in the tens of millions can be repurposed across additional NFL media to increase return on investment.