The Bill Belichick-Tom Brady debate soon will add a new perspective.
Both the New England Patriots and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been awarded Germany as their home market as part of the NFL's new International Home Marketing Area initiative, which allows teams to explore marketing, event and sponsorship opportunities outside of the United States.
The partnership does not explicitly include international games, but the NFL currently plans for all 32 teams to play at least one international contest over the next eight seasons and said Wednesday it will attempt to have teams involved in the International Home Marketing Area initiative play in their respective countries.
If the goal is to increase international interest in American football, you have to imagine that a Belichick-Brady, Bucs-Patriots rivalry game certainly would be the way to go.
In total, 18 teams were selected to participate in the program, with potential regions including Brazil, Canada, China, Mexico and the United Kingdom. The Carolina Panthers and Kansas City Chiefs also were assigned to Germany following the application process, which required teams to submit business plans for the regions they were interested in.
