Jaimee Godfrey, NFL Australia & New Zealand Marketing Manager, on brand, strategy and community
Want to hear the full conversation? Listen to the podcast episode here.
In September 2026, around 100,000 fans filled the Melbourne Cricket Ground for the NFL's first regular-season game in Australia. The Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers took to the field, marking a historic moment for American football in a country with a sporting culture of its own.
For Jaimee Godfrey, Marketing Manager for NFL Australia and New Zealand, the occasion represented years of work introducing the league to new audiences, creating local connections and turning international recognition into genuine Australian interest.
But the ambition was never simply to fill a stadium.
In the latest episode of the Inside Riva Podcast, Sophie sits down with Jaimee to explore the strategy behind the NFL's Australian expansion, the importance of community and what it takes to grow one of the world's most recognisable sporting brands in a new market.
An Unexpected Career in Sport
Jaimee's journey into sports marketing wasn't exactly planned. Growing up with a passion for musical theatre, she initially studied songwriting before finding her way into marketing across food service and professional services.
When an opportunity with the NFL appeared on LinkedIn, she almost didn't apply. Without previous sports marketing experience, she questioned whether she had the right background for the role.
Encouraged by her partner, she took the chance. After a competitive recruitment process that included presenting a marketing strategy for the NFL's Australian business, she was offered the position.
Today, her approach to marketing is grounded in a simple philosophy.
"Marketing isn't hard if you know what you're marketing. And if you believe in it, all you have to do is make somebody else believe in the product."
For Jaimee, that belief goes hand in hand with understanding your audience, doing the research and resisting the temptation to follow the obvious approach.
It's a mindset that would prove particularly valuable when introducing an established global brand to a very different sporting market.
The Strategy Before the Spectacle
Bringing the NFL to Melbourne was years in the making. But as Jaimee explains, delivering a successful international game was only one part of the plan.
"We didn't wanna be the circus that came to town."
The NFL wanted to establish a genuine following before bringing a major event to Australia, rather than arriving with enormous fanfare and disappearing once the game was over.
That meant investing in smaller events, watch parties, player appearances and opportunities for local fans to connect with the league long before a stadium was selected.
Behind the scenes, there was also extensive operational planning, from evaluating potential host cities and venues to preparing the marketing assets needed for a major international announcement.
When the Melbourne game was announced during Super Bowl week in February 2025, the response was immediate. But with kick-off still around 18 months away, the team faced another challenge: how to sustain that excitement.
The strategy involved carefully timed announcements, social-first content, collaborations and fan experiences designed to keep audiences interested throughout the journey.
Rather than treating the game as a standalone campaign, the team used each milestone to strengthen the connection with existing supporters and introduce the NFL to new audiences.
It's an interesting perspective on growth. The Melbourne game created an extraordinary moment of attention, but the years spent developing an audience were what gave that moment lasting potential.
Finding Its Place in Australian Sport
Australia already has an incredibly strong sporting identity. AFL, NRL, cricket and football occupy an important place in Australian culture, with generations of loyal supporters.
For an American sporting league entering this environment, competing directly with those established codes might seem like the obvious approach.
Jaimee sees it differently.
"We don't wanna compete with the AFL or the NRL, cricket. We are our own sport."
Rather than asking Australians to choose between their existing sporting interests and the NFL, the league sees an opportunity for people to enjoy multiple sports.
That includes finding common ground through athletes, sporting organisations and major events, while introducing fans to the different elements that make American football unique.
There's also the challenge of making a global brand feel locally relevant without losing its identity.
"We wanna bring an authentic NFL experience with an Aussie twist."
Australian players such as Jordan Mailata provide a natural connection with local audiences, while the league's global superstars, teams and traditions remain central to the experience.
Jaimee is conscious of avoiding Australian clichés or creating a version of the NFL that feels disconnected from its global identity.
The goal is to understand what resonates locally while maintaining the experience that makes the brand distinctive.
It's a balance that many businesses face when expanding into new markets: recognising local expectations without losing sight of what made their brand successful in the first place.
The Power of People Who Already Believe
For Jaimee, some of the NFL's most valuable marketing opportunities come from the people who already care about the sport.
Australia has long had dedicated NFL supporters, including passionate fan groups built around individual teams. These communities have spent years watching games across time zones, sharing content and introducing others to American football.
And for the NFL, those existing relationships are an important part of growing its audience.
"It is so important to lean on your community when you want to grow."
Jaimee explains that sometimes a message delivered by a brand doesn't carry the same influence as one shared by someone the audience already knows and trusts.
That might be a respected voice within a Facebook group, a content creator with an engaged following or a passionate supporter who has spent years bringing fans together.
By developing genuine relationships with these people, the NFL can reach audiences through voices that already have credibility within their communities.
Some become so closely involved that Jaimee describes them as almost honorary members of the team.
This approach also extends to grassroots participation, with flag football programs creating opportunities for young people and families to become involved in the sport.
The league is looking at how to strengthen those connections outside major cities too, recognising that growing a sport requires more than reaching audiences who are already familiar with it.
It's a powerful example of what happens when a community becomes part of a brand's growth rather than simply an audience for its campaigns.
The same principle carries into business. Relationships built through clients, industry peers and professional networks can create introductions, opportunities and advocacy that traditional marketing alone may never achieve.
From Global Awareness to Local Relevance
The NFL already has enormous global recognition, but awareness doesn't automatically translate into an engaged audience.
When Sophie asks Jaimee whether awareness or relevance is harder to build, her answer is immediate.
"Probably relevance."
For some Australians, their first introduction to the NFL might come through an Australian player. For others, it could be the Super Bowl, music, entertainment, merchandise or a cultural moment involving one of the league's biggest personalities.
That's why the NFL's approach to marketing extends well outside the field.
Jaimee explains that the team places particular emphasis on attracting younger audiences and finding creative ways to introduce the sport through interests they already have.
Not everyone who engages with an NFL campaign will immediately start watching full games. Some might follow the league on social media, watch highlights or join friends for the Super Bowl.
The opportunity is to turn those initial interactions into something people want to return to.
And that's where the distinction between awareness and relevance becomes important. Getting attention may introduce a brand, but finding a meaningful place in someone's life is what helps sustain the relationship.
When the Numbers Become Real
After years of tracking engagement, campaigns and audience growth, the Melbourne game gave Jaimee a moment she won't forget.
100,021 fans at the MCG for Australia's first NFL regular-season game.
Standing on the MCG field during the national anthems, she looked around at a stadium filled with NFL fans.
"For so many years, everything we did was looking at numbers on a screen."
Suddenly, those numbers were people.
Around 100,000 fans wearing jerseys, supporting their teams and experiencing the NFL on Australian soil.
For Jaimee, it was the moment everything came together.
"I just wanted the wow, we did this."
Behind that moment were years of planning, a relatively small team managing enormous responsibilities and plenty of lessons learned along the way.
Jaimee also reflects on the importance of trusting her team, learning to delegate and recognising that not every responsibility needs to sit on her shoulders.
With the first Australian game behind them, the focus now turns to keeping those fans engaged, introducing new audiences to the sport and continuing to grow the NFL's presence across the region.
The challenge isn't simply recreating Melbourne. It's continuing to give people reasons to be part of what comes next.
And perhaps that's what makes Jaimee's story so interesting. Behind the scale of a global sporting brand are the same questions that shape businesses of every size: who are we trying to reach, why should they care and what will make them stay?
Inside Riva with Jaimee Godfrey
Jaimee Godfrey is the Marketing Manager for NFL Australia and New Zealand, helping grow the league's presence, connect with new audiences and build a passionate fan community across the region.
Listen to the full episode of the Inside Riva Podcast for more on the NFL's Australian expansion, marketing strategy and the power of community in building a global brand.
Learn more about NFL Australia.
