Before we talk football, let’s talk hockey — namely, the NHL’s terribly misguided decision to ban on-ice support for social causes, including LGBTQ+ pride. It confuses and offends me, both as a sports business reporter and a bi person. I thought encouraging athletes to express themselves was:

A) The right thing to do
B) A fundamental pillar of modern sports marketing

The Chiefs will be making their first appearance in Germany on Nov. 5 against the Dolphins, and it’s the culmination (so far) of a three-year-old strategy to build a German fan base, President Mark Donovan said. The team’s efforts to market and activate around that game, including the ChampionShip, will cost about $1 million, Donovan said, or about half the $2 million the organization has put into the team’s international business before this week.

Both the raw numbers and that 1:2 ratio is enlightening in the context of the NFL’s Global Markets program. League execs are quick to note that the International Series games are not necessarily connected to the commercial rights grants enjoyed by 21 teams in 14 countries. But obviously, it greatly helps teams with commercial rights in a country to be able to deliver the product in person. The Chiefs’ $3 million total spend has covered Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Mexico.

For one team at least, we now know how a game is valued compared to the day-to-day business of building fans and commercial revenue 12 months a year. “[The game] is a significant additive, but I don’t think we’d see the impacts of the game itself if we had not already invested in the years prior to it,” Donovan said.

NFL giving space to teams at international games this year

Donovan is excited for Frankfurt because the Chiefs will have in-stadium advertising for team sponsors, which is a first overseas.

The International Series games had been NFL-controlled venues in the same way the Super Bowl, Pro Bowl and Draft are. But this year, the NFL is giving some ground and providing the Chiefs in-stadium ad space.

Donovan said the NFL International division “deserves a lot of credit” for the decision. “They’re asking you to bid against each other for the right to make a huge financial commitment to growing a foreign market, and then you’re limiting us,” Donovan said, describing his argument to the league. “And they listened, so for the first time we’ll have game-day activation assets for our partners.”

I’ll have more on the Chiefs’ progress in Germany before the Nov. 5 game.

In the last decade, the NFL has lifted bans on team sponsorships in previously problematic areas like hard liquor and gambling, but it has held firm on one ban — fireworks. That could be changing, sources tell me, with the league now evaluating the potential of permitting teams to sell rights to fireworks retailers.

Nothing’s been decided. The risks associated with fireworks will be closely considered, along with the simple complicating factor that state laws on fireworks vary widely (the Patriots play in a state that bans consumer fireworks sales, while another 13 teams play in states where broad categories of fireworks are prohibited).

On the other side of the risk-reward analysis lies the simple fact that this category’s potential is limited. One team exec said a fireworks retailer deal would be in the six figures annually.

My boss Abe Madkour last month wrote about “perplexing off-the-field moves” by the Bills and the steady drip of executive exodus on the business side. He wrote it left him “with more questions than clarity.”

Well, the situation in Buffalo sure got murkier last night, when COO John Roth was suddenly fired. Roth had taken over for Ron Racciua as COO in July (after joining the Sabres in January following 24 years as an investor and portfolio manager at Fidelity). His dismissal was due to an “unethical” romantic relationship with Bills SVP/Business Administration Kathryn D’Angelo, who also was fired.

The firings come less than three months after both had been elevated to their respective positions and leaves the team without a ton of experience in the C-suite. The Buffalo News’ Ryan O’Halloran posted a column this afternoon noting that owner Terry Pegula is “back to the drawing board.” O’Halloran suggests Pegula should split off COO roles for both the Bills and Sabres rather than have one exec running both teams. “Instead of a search firm, one executive said Pegula should ask commissioners Roger Goodell (NFL) and Gary Bettman (NHL) for assistance and examine the executive depth charts of the top football and hockey clubs for candidates,” he wrote. “And make this a priority: No FOT (Friends of Terry) like Roth, who has known Pegula for 12 years.”

It should be noted that Pegula will now reportedly look outside the organization for new leadership; The Buffalo News also posted a timeline of the business changes impacting the organization dating back to Russ Brandon’s resignation in May 2018.

• Nissan has held naming rights to the Titans’ home stadium since 2015, and sources tell my colleague Terry Lefton that the automaker has committed to continuing that title sponsorship at the new 62,000-seat, $2.1 billion stadium slated to open in time for the 2027 NFL season.

• The Browns are seeing early returns in the first season of its Express Beer program, which is a collaboration between the team, Wicket and concessionaire Aramark, notes SBJ’s Rob Schaefer. The Express Beer program offers streamlined concession shopping for fans at six locations within Cleveland Browns Stadium using facial authentication tech.

• Users watching “TNF” on the Fanatics Sportsbook app placed twice as many bets as those who weren’t watching the game on the app, with 54% placing in-play bets, notes my colleague Bill King. In-app viewership increased 40% from Week 1 to Week 2, with 46% of Week 1 users returning.

• Forma Capital, a newly launched VC firm led by a group of longtime sports execs, is in the process of raising its first fund and aiming to leverage a network of athlete investors, including Bills QB Josh Allen, who is also expected to eventually take an operational role with the firm, reports SBJ’s Chris Smith.

• 49ers RB Christian McCaffrey is among the investors in a recent $75 million Series C funding round for N.Y.-based Pair Eyewear, a direct-to-consumer customizable eyewear brand, notes TechCrunch. McCaffrey also invested in the Series A and Series B rounds back in 2021 for Pair, which has licenses with the NBA, MLB and NHL.

• Sports lifestyle brand round21 is seeing success with its NFLPA license, creating custom footballs — designed by artist Dwight White — around Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes, Odell Beckham Jr., Rob Gronkowski, Russell Wilson and Derrick Henry, notes SBJ’s Austin Karp.