One of my favourite stories in sports business has surprisingly little to do with the NFL itself. Years ago, Uli Hoeneß travelled to the United States because Bayern Munich was financially trying to reinvent itself. German soccer still thought primarily about football. The Americans were already thinking about entertainment, merchandising, stadiums and everything happening before kick-off and long after the final whistle. Hoeneß visited the San Francisco 49ers, watched how the organisation operated and came back with a completely different understanding of what a sports club could become. I have written about that story before because I still think it explains why modern European soccer eventually became such a commercial machine. Clubs stopped selling ninety minutes of football. They started selling an experience.
The Americans No Longer Wait For Europe
The funny part is what happened afterwards. Thirty years ago Europeans travelled to America to learn. Today America travels to Europe.The NFL fills stadiums in Germany and London. The NBA has spent years bringing games overseas instead of expecting European fans to stay awake in the middle of the night. MLB has discovered exactly the same thing in Japan. Ohtani accelerated the process, but Ichiro, Matsui, Yamamoto, Sasaki and Murakami all belong to the same story. The leagues have realised that supporters are no longer sitting in one country. If the audience is global, the product has to become global as well.
Patrick Mahomes Lives In A Different World Than Joe Montana
Ask somebody in Germany about Joe Montana thirty years ago and most people would have had no idea who you meant. Today Patrick Mahomes is recognised far outside the NFL bubble. Michael Jordan escaped basketball decades ago. LeBron James followed. Children wear Chiefs jerseys, Lakers jerseys and Yankees caps without ever having visited the United States.
A signed helmet or jersey stops feeling like an exotic object from another continent. It becomes something connected to a game you actually attended.
The Memorabilia Market Always Arrives A Little Later
I think that is why Europe still has so much room to grow. The fan usually comes first. The collector comes afterwards.You watch one NFL game in Munich. A year later you buy a jersey.Then maybe a signed football. Then perhaps your first graded card.
That pattern repeats itself thousands of times, and suddenly auction houses begin carrying more American sports memorabilia because the buyers already exist.
Japan Shows The Same Development
Baseball is following exactly the same path, just from the other side of the world. Japan never needed convincing that baseball mattered. MLB simply realised there was an enormous collector base that deserved more attention. Tokyo games, Kanji cards, Japanese superstars, all of those things belong together. The leagues have already understood something the memorabilia market is only beginning to price properly.
The next great collector does not necessarily live in New York, Los Angeles or Chicago anymore. He might just as easily live in Munich, Paris, London or Tokyo.