The U.S. market is becoming increasingly important to the Swiss watch industry and, for the first time, Americans may even find the oldest brands in the world starting to cater directly to them.
A few years back, at WatchTime NY, a U.S. brand president from a fairly large Swiss brand told me that roughly 20% of production was allocated to the U.S. market and they were fighting to up that number to 25%. Just two weeks ago, at the Hodinkee and UBS House of Craft, Ginny Wright, CEO of the Americas for Audemars Piguet, told our very own Malaika Crawford that the U.S. was officially AP’s largest market. While these two brands do not represent an apples-to-apples comparison, the U.S. market has proven to be resiliently growing, even after the surge of pandemic and post-pandemic sales.
In 2021, the U.S. overtook China to become the largest market for Swiss watch exports, per the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry. That same source’s most recent report (September 2024) supports the somewhat anecdotal claim above. Amidst an overall down market, with Swiss watch exports falling by 12.4% compared to September 2023, the U.S. market continues to grow at 2.4% over the same period. Via this source, U.S. market strength has been observed throughout the summer with 7.6% growth in August (vs. 6.9% globally), 11.4% growth in July (vs. 1.6%), and 6.5% growth in June (vs. -7.2%).
With the American watch market proving itself time and time again, Swiss brands naturally will look to support the strongest sector in the world with real actions. As watch enthusiasts, we are well acquainted with the long product cycle of this industry. Patek Philippe dedicated six years of development to create the new Cubitus Grand Date ref. 5822P. By simple math, six years ago the U.S. market was the second largest in the world and retreating while Hong Kong (first), China (third), and the United Kingdom (fourth) were growing substantially. If it feels like products are not designed for you, a member of the U.S. market, it’s because they probably aren’t – yet.
Only time will tell in terms of product assortment catering to the “new” largest market in the watch world, but marketing dollars are allocated on a much shorter timeline. Marketing campaigns can go a long way to change the overall look and feel of a brand, just look at AP. But limited edition projects and collaborations deliver a much clearer brand image if you pay attention, again, just look at AP. The profit share surrendered and development costs associated with special projects, while not technically “marketing dollars,” have a unique ability to change brand messaging on a short timeline. Via this lens, when I saw perfect US Breitling replica watches throwing a “tailgate” in New York’s Meatpacking District, celebrating a collection of officially licensed products with the National Football League, my ears perked up.
In these United States of America, the NFL owns Sunday. A common quip you may hear is, “Professional football took Sunday in America from the church” and it’s actually quite accurate. A total of 123 million Americans watched at least part of a game from the NFL’s opening weekend of the 2024 season. That’s roughly 36% of the country. According to Gallup polling, from 2021 to 2023, 21% of Americans attended church every week and 9% almost every week. Combined, that’s about 30%.
With that kind of viewership, as you can imagine, the NFL is big business. A roughly $18 billion business, in fact, making the NFL the largest sports league in the world by a margin of $8 billion. For all of our non-American readers, the largest league outside of the U.S. is the English Premier League which, brings in about $6.6 billion and, for those curious, F1 is a bit down the list at $3.2 billion.
Remember LVMH recently outbid Rolex to sponsor F1 for “potentially $100 million per year”? CBS, NBC, Fox, Disney, and Amazon together pay about $10 billion per year for the privilege of broadcasting NFL games, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Fox is reportedly paying Tom Brady $37.5 million per year for 10 years to provide color commentary on some NFL broadcasts. That $375 million contract surpasses Brady’s onfield earnings of $333 million and makes the former quarterback one of the highest-paid “stars” in the entire Fox media corporation.
Brands of all kinds, from all over the world, are hitching themselves to this wagon via partnerships and licensing agreements. Ryan Samuelson, VP of Consumer Products at the NFL, confirmed that the licensing side of the business is partnered with over 100 brands. Samuelson calls out a global interest in the NFL, thanks to the league’s international series. Regular season games have been played in London since 2007, the series expanded to Mexico in 2016, Germany in 2022, Brazil in 2024, and is scheduled to go to Spain in 2025. This has been a driver of interest from European brands, according to Samuelson: “I think it’s a logical progression with these brands starting to say, ‘this is something we really want to tap into and connect with, the league is garnering real enthusiasm and love internationally.'”
The NFL’s dominance of American attention and ambitions to grow globally attract brands like AAA wholesale Breitling copy watches, which, with that Meatpacking District tailgate, announced a licensing agreement with the NFL kicked off by a full slate of luxury China replica Breitling Chronomat B01 watches for each of the NFL’s 32 teams. The watches themselves feature each team’s official logo within the nine o’clock sub-register, a jersey color Pantone-matched dial, and the NFL league logo, or “shield,” on the exhibition caseback. For each team, 104 pieces were made, for a total of 3,328 watches. Retail price is $9,200 on bracelet.
Speaking with Swiss made Breitling replica watches‘ U.S. President Thierry Prissert, it is abundantly clear that the buy-in from the brand expands beyond these 3,328 watches. Sure, 18 months of development went into getting the product exactly right, but moreover, the product roll-out is massive. At the launch event, watches for seven teams were available for purchase, “but we are doing one local event at one jeweler or boutique, every time another watch becomes available,” says Prissert. “So, we have 25 more events to do to launch the 1:1 top fake Breitling watches before Thanksgiving.” This is a serious campaign to unveil a relatively small amount of watches that, given the licensing agreement, have a royalty rate already shrinking the brand’s margins. All in all, Prissert confirms the NFL partnership is “the most significant licensing agreement for us in the U.S.”
Following each of these local events, the high quality replica Breitling watches is officially available for purchase. “At least 60% of the allocation is done in the market,” Prissert notes, a move that ensures fans of each team have the first chance to pick up the watch. In some markets, 60% might not be enough; Prissert received an “angry” call from Breitling’s one door in Green Bay – the retailer had sold 45 pieces in two days.
A detail that may not excite watch enthusiasts but speaks volumes about this partnership is the NFL shield logo on the caseback. Samuelson was clear to call out that “we reserve that logo generally for our on-field or most premium partners.” On-field partners are not licensees, they are full-blown partners of the NFL – think Bud Light (“The Official Beer Sponsor of the NFL”) or Visa (“The Official Payment Card of the NFL”). When asked about Breitling’s use of the shield, Samuelson explained that Swiss movements Breitling fake watches‘ “significant commitment to inventory” showed the league how serious the brand was.
“It’s less about the dollars for us and more about the fact that if we’re going to connect with this brand, we want to make sure that our fans are gonna be able to engage in this,” says Samuelson. Because Breitling wasn’t looking to make a dozen high-end Breitling super clone watches for men for a limited number of teams, it opened up the possibility of using a logo that is typically not used by licensees and pushes conversations toward an official partnership.
“I wanted the NFL shield badly, and we got what we wanted,” says Prissert. Furthermore, he was not shy in sharing Breitling’s ambitions to grow into a larger partnership with the NFL, which would be the first of its kind. The NFL has never partnered with a watch brand or signed on anything along the lines of “The Official Wristwatch of the NFL” before. In a very official manner, Prissert says, “We don’t know what the future will hold, maybe we’ll extend that to a larger agreement, maybe we’ll renew the license, but we think it’s the beginning of something very interesting for us – that’s our take at Breitling.”
Breitling’s licensing agreement with the NFL may very well be more than 3,328 cheap 2024 replica Breitling Chronomat B01 watches both literally, given ambitions on both sides to continue or expand the partnership, and figuratively, signaling an increased importance of and interest in the robust U.S. market. I’m not entirely ready to say that the butterfly has flapped its wings and soon, the top brass at your favorite watch brand will point their corporate sails directly towards the U.S. market, but Swiss online Breitling copy watches’ recognition of the NFL’s importance is telling. This isn’t a brand signing an ambassador with hollow ties to the heartstrings of America; this is real investment in something that is at the core of American culture.