Sunday marked the NFL’s first ever regular season game in Dublin. It could easily be followed up by future visits to the Irish capital along with a number of other international games. 
Expanding the league’s global reach has been a clear priority for several years now, and in the spring commissioner Roger Goodell stated his intention of seeing 16 international games become an annual feature of the schedule. Goodell recently confirmed (via ESPN’s Brooke Pryor) that remains the case, with the goal being one overseas contest per team per year.
“In today’s world, we have to be global,” Goodell said (via Pryor). “Every time we play an international game, fans say they want more. I really, truly believe our game can and will be global. Our job is to share our game with the rest of the world.”
Dating back to 2007, the NFL has staged dozens of regular season games outside the United States with the majority taking place in Europe. Each of the past two seasons have included contests taking place in Brazil as well, however. São Paulo has played host to a pair of contests, but it became clear earlier this month the NFL was interested in trying Rio de Janeiro as a host city. The league has since announced (via NFL.com) Rio will indeed become the site for games beginning in 2026.
Over the next five years, no fewer than three NFL games will be played at the Maracanã Stadium. The iconic venue has a capacity of over 70,000 and has played host to a pair of FIFA World Cup finals along with the 2016 Summer Olympics. It would come as little surprise if a second long-term agreement were to be reached provided this upcoming trial phase proves to be successful.
The NFL is making inroads into Berlin and Madrid with games taking place there this season in addition to familiar host cities such as London and Munich. 2026 will also see Melbourne join the list of NFL sites with the Rams operating as the designated home team for the NFL’s first game in Australia. Goodell noted that over the long term, expanding into Asia will likely be the league’s next step.
Even if that proves to be several years away, a long list of host cities will exist in the near term for the NFL. With the regular season still widely expected to reach 18 games relatively soon, the league’s calendar could very well feature one annual international contest for each of its teams in short order.
Rodger goodell needs to be drug tested
The NFL has cheapened the international games – there are too many each year already.
The greed of the owners knows no bounds.
Disagree. The people attending the games clearly want them.
Of course they want them internationally. How about the home fans of where the team actually plays? It’s the IFL now
Anybody who watches NFL hates these games. As a season ticket holder sometimes takes away a home game. Players I’m sure could do without them. Only Roger Goodell wants them. I’m sure they’re padding his pocket
The NFL needs that every team has to have just as many traveling miles with international games! If you are a playoff team and on the bottom of traveling miles you can’t host a playoff game compared to other teams that traveling more miles! Buffalo is on the bottom for traveling miles this Season shouldn’t be allowed to host playoff Games.
This might be one of the single worst takes I’ve seen on this website.
Must be a Bills fan! Least traveled team and playing in the easiest conference. Everyone knows that J.Allen and Bills are good getting on their knees to get the NFL Brass to get their way
Yep, the team with zero Super Bowl wins and a 17 year playoff drought this century is their favorite!
How can the “National” Football League be international. Here’s an idea, start the IFL and leave the U.S. teams as a separate entity, maybe do pre-season games together? This money grab is going to go so badly for the NFL.
Or come up with a World Football League and give them teams to gauge their interest in our sport. Oh that’s right, been there done that and they didn’t care. Taking these games away from the fans is a crime. It disrupts the players routine and is just an absolute failure. This isn’t baseball, basketball or hockey where we pull heavily from those areas, they couldn’t care less about American football.
They tried that in 1989. It was a complete failure and lasted only 2 seasons. Other world football leagues have also tried and failed. American Football is only a curiosity to the rest of the world. The whole everyone wants this is a farce. It’s all about bringing in more money at the expense of the product and fans.
Fans aren’t saying they want more. The people making the money are saying they want more.
This is bogus. Most stadiums are built specifically for NFL teams to utilize. This costs taxpayer dollars and often are given tax breaks which reduces tax revenue in these cities.
It is a slap in the face to steal a home game from a city whete residents pay these taxes and benefit from the travel coming into their city.
What an absolute farce. This is an American sport. If you want to expand there are American cities that have waited long enough to get teams first before we expand to any other country.
This is a shame.
Oh no, teams will only have 8 home games apiece, which is… exactly what the case was when these stadiums were built.
It’s totally unnecessary to make these teams go all over the globe to play in front of these spectators that don’t even know what’s going on. It’s purely a money grab for the greedy pigs of the NFL.
That doesn’t really make the case to me.
By that logic we should send playoff games overseas because they’ve already made their 8 game quota.
All football games should be played in the US. Make a European league that is separate from the NFL again if they want to.
All games should belong to the American taxpayer if the city spent tax money building or give tax breaks for the team.
This isn’t to say ither countries are not worthy of football or are any less than Americans. They are just second in line to the people who have already paid the bill for these games, and teams eventually if they expand the league.
You will never convince me otherwise. Keep football here in this country.
Playoff games were here and still are.
Yes, but by your “8 game” expectation being what the team owes their city why not outsource playoff games out to another country?
No reason to get greedy, right? 8 games is all we need to cover for their city.
There is absolutely zero reason to give any team’s home game away to another country or even other American city.
Literally taking money out of the pockets of the very people that pay to build the stadiums with their tax dollars.
A friend of mine drives Uber on the side and loves home games because of the increased airport fares. Bartenders at my hotel make way more during home games.
It is an insult. Bring back NFL Europe, don’t steal games and money away from home cities and residents.
You realize you’re now just getting mad at your own hypothetical, right?
This isn’t my own hypothetical, I am getting mad at the notion that we are even holding a discussion about the NATIONAL football league (not international football league) playing 16 games in another country.
I am using your own logic to prove the absurdity of your “8 games” are the deal claim. I appreciate your take, but I find it to be completely off.
Tax payers are owed every possible game in their city if the team used tax payer dollars for the stadium. Until Ireland, Mexico City, or wherever else they hold games starts to chip in millions of dollars for stadiums…I don’t want to see a single game on foreign land.
“ Oh no, teams will only have 8 home games apiece, which is… exactly what the case was when these stadiums were built.”
So should wild card round playoff games be played over seas or in Canada or Central/South America? What about divisional? Conference championship? Should the Super Bowl?
No. Can we evaluate the thing being done without judging it by an entirely different thing?
It’s not entirely different. They’re all games sanctioned by the NFL. Most are home games for some team, Super Bowl could wind up a home game again.
If you’re of the mind foreign countries should be able to experience NFL games then how come foreign countries shouldn’t be able to experience a playoff game or superbowl?
Because you can draw a line somewhere and that’s a sensible place to draw the line? Because home field advantage in the playoffs is a big deal and also that would anger fan bases and teams much more?
But why not draw the line at pre season games and host those over seas instead of regular season games?
Also superbowl isnt typically a home or away game for teams so that argument doesn’t work
And you can make the case that sacrificing a home game during regular season for some teams hurts their odds of getting homefield advantage in the playoffs which is counter productive
The regular season home game sacrifice is a very different story now that the season is an odd number of games. It can in fact even out the number of home games if everyone has one international game. That’s different from the playoffs. And the Super Bowl is always on a neutral field, in part to make sure it’s in a city with a dome or decent weather and the biggest sports and media event can be planned out and booked well in advance.
Santiago Bernabeu, Signal Iduna Park here we come baby! 2028 start booking now.
Go back to having a separate league for Europe, Mexico, South America, the Middle East and the Orient. Which two teams are playing in the game in Ukraine?? Gaza ??
There used to be a 16 game season. Now there’s a 17 game season. By having 16 international games, that means there will be an average of 16 games played in the US per season. Which was a full slate until very recently.
I think people are overreacting to this.
Again…just do it in the preseason. The fans over there are not going to care much, they literally explain all the rules before the game. They mentioned the Rugby team calls American football some derogatory name haha. NFL will make money regardless of preseason or regular season because it is a ONE time event there. Heck they probably make more. The preseason games don’t sell out in US but probably can overseas.
Shad Kahn should get a gold jacket for brining in billions of dollars to every team; just not for there Jags record under his ownership.
I have to wonder how many people actually watch these games. I live on the west coast of the US and the games come on at 6am. I’m not waking up on my weekend ass early to watch a football game between 2 random teams. I wouldn’t even do it if my team was playing one.
How about we just launch Goodell into deep outer space so he can contact alien lifeforms and discover if they have an interest in hosting NFL games?
The NFL only has games overseas to make more money? And they don’t actually care about their customers?
Yeah, that’s how everything works.
Odd that this is the rare time people notice.
Well it’s actually not how everything works. The NFL is essentially a monopoly so they don’t have to care about the customers. In any other business if you can’t satisfy the customer he crosses the street and gives his money to your competitor.
In theory. In the past.
Where does it actually occur today?
Ex.- Lowes and Home Depot have the same price on almost every item. Don’t want to buy from them (and their volume buying power) that’s cool, you can go pay 20% more for the same thing at Ace. Don’t like that, you might be able to find a local hardware store that still exists because it legacy owns it’s building and can scratch by for a bit longer…and pay them 40% more.
I’ll bet if that dingus Goodell had to travel and play in those international games they wouldn’t be happening. The players are already beat to hell and then the commissar, I mean commissioner, dictates they go play 10 times zones and thousands of miles away. It’s usually on an inferior field, which adds to the problems. It’s hard on the body to adjust to functioning in a different time zone (jet lag) much less play at your best. Yet money hungry Goodell thinks it’s all worthwhile to sell a few more jerseys, health of the players be damned.The owners need to flush this turd and quickly. Wait until a team like KC loses Mahomes and or Mr Swift to a torn ACL because they are playing on a crappy field in a foreign country that really doesn’t care if they are there or not.
Absolutely Nailed it with this.
Ugh! I’ve had it with this nonsense! It’s the “National Football League”. Not the International Football League
The NFL is the only sport that actually hates the cities that host their teams and the individual ticket holders that attend games. All they care about is broadcast revenues.
With a 17 game season if each team played one international game every team still gets 8 games…
But people love to hear themselves complain, so it doesn’t surprise me
The popularity of the NFL internationally, especially in the UK and Germany it’s growing every year
No one wants this
College football > NFL on all fronts. I’ve been to plenty of both and am literally leaving Pennsylvania today after coming to Happy Valley to experience the white out. Tradition, game play, atmosphere, cost…no contest.