In recent years, the NFL has explored a number of new markets for international games. One reason for that has been the inaccessibility of Mexico City for staging games, but that will not be the case next year. 
Commissioner Roger Goodell announced earlier this month (via the Associated Press) the league will once again hold an international game in Mexico City. Renovations to Azteca Stadium have been ongoing in anticipation of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Starting next season, though, a return will take place.
A total of four games have been played at Azteca Stadium to date, covering a span from 2016-22. The Chiefs-Rams game scheduled to be played there in 2018 had to be relocated due to field conditions. That will no doubt be a concern on the league’s part ahead of its return to Mexico City, but a regular season contest is being planned for next year. It is unknown at this point which teams will be taking part.
The current campaign includes seven overseas games, but expanding that figure has long been known as an NFL priority. As such, it would come as no surprise if Mexico City became a staple of the International Series moving forward. In any event, a key element of future international games will be the position of the NFLPA in terms of issues related to travel, playing surfaces and recovery. This year, positive reviews have generally been the common perspective on those fronts.
“I was pleased to hear from players — a lot of very positive comments — and that the clubs on this trip took a lot of that seriously and were listening to players,” NFLPA interim executive director David White said during an interview with Mike Jones of The Athletic (subscription required). “That’s our primary concern: Are our players being listened to?… So, I was very pleased with that overarching experience — and there were certain issues that people raised — but for the most part, the clubs on these trips seemed like they were doing a pretty good job.”
A setup in which 16 regular season games are played outside the United States on an annual basis – one international game per team per year – is the NFL’s target at this point. That could very well feature one or more contests taking place in Mexico City each season, depending on how next year’s return plays out.
Need to change the name from National Football League to International Football League.
They better do something about the grass. Pretty sure the last time the field was horrible.