NFL casting the net far and wide as fan base goes global

AMERICAN sport has always been a movable feast.

While basketball has thrived in Europe and China and baseball has formed profitable and passionate offshoots in Asia and Latin America, the NFL has struggled to replicate its domestic domination on the world stage.

Since 2005, it has tested international waters, playing a regular season game in Mexico City and subsequently a relatively successful run of one-off fixtures in London to which UK and Irish fans have flocked, regardless of their preferred teams.