Fred Maas, Chief of Staff and Counselor of the Los Angeles Chargers (left), with Greece’s General Secretary for Sports, Giorgos Mavrotas.
Despite the success of George Karlaftis with the Kansas City Chiefs, winning two Superbowls in a row in 2023-2024, Greece largely remains an unchartered territory for the NFL, and the Los Angeles Chargers tried – in cooperation with the Greek authorities – to bring American football to the Greek audience this month with a visit and the screening of the NFL Draft in Athens.
The Chargers announced that the NFL has granted the LA franchise the international marketing rights of the league in Greece, marking the first organized strategic penetration of the sport in the Greek market.
This choice did not come by chance, as Greece is where Chargers owner and Chairman Dean Spanos hails from, thereby rendering this effort not only strategic but also symbolic.
Last Friday the Chargers held a press conference in Athens city center and combined their presence in the Greek capital with the airing of their fifth-round pick for the 2025 NFL Draft, announced by US Embassy Charge d’ Affairs Maria Olson and beamed live to the US and the world from Syntagma Square in Athens, with the Acropolis fully lit in the background.
Maria Olson, Charge d’Affaires at the US Embassy in Athens, with Chargers fans Debbie and Steve Stackiewicz.
At the press conference, LA Chargers’ Chief of Staff and Counselor Fred Maas spoke of Spanos’ dream to bring the NFL and the Chargers to Greece. With the expansion of the NFL Global Markets Program, this dream has now become a reality, he said.
Meeting Maas, among others, was Greece’s General Secretary for Sports, Giorgos Mavrotas, who welcomed the Chargers’ delegation and said the government expects this initiative to contribute not only in the expansion of American football in Greece, but also to the exchange of knowledge and experiences, promoting all aspects of sporting activity and strengthening the role of the Greek-American community.