The NFL might be regularly throwing touchdowns outside of the United States soon.
“At some point, there will be NFL teams outside the USA,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in an interview with former NFL star Markus Kuhn. “I have no doubt that this will happen one day,” according to Fox News Digital.
He’s been talking about the possibility since 2022, saying, “We’re trying to sort of see, could you have multiple locations in Europe where you could have an NFL franchise, because it would be easier as a division.”
Steps to build up an international NFL footing are well underway as
There have been a lot of steps in the right direction, though, as more NFL games are being played internationally each year.
The 2026 NFL season will feature a record nine international games spread across seven countries and four continents. It kicks off in Week 1 with the Rams facing the 49ers in Melbourne, Australia on Thursday, Sept. 10, the league’s first-ever regular-season game there.
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Then in Week 3, the Cowboys take on the Ravens in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Sept. 27. Right after that, London hosts three straight weeks of action: the Colts play the Commanders at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Oct. 4 (Week 4), the Eagles face the Jaguars at Tottenham on Oct. 11 (Week 5) and the Jaguars stay in town to play the Texans at Wembley Stadium on Oct. 18 (Week 6).
That’s not all of the out-of-country games we will see. The tour moves to Paris for the NFL’s first-ever game in France, with the Steelers facing the Saints on Oct. 25 (Week 7). From there, the Bengals will face the Falcons in Madrid’s second-ever NFL game in Week 9, followed by the Patriots and Lions squaring off in Munich in Week 10.
The final stop of the tour will see the 49ers and Vikings head to Mexico City later in the season to play at Estadio Banorte, marking Mexico’s return to the international schedule after a three-year hiatus.
Fox News reported that there has been a vote to approve up to 10 non-US games in the 2027 season. “That vote also removed the ability of teams to prevent their home games from being moved to an international host,” the outlet noted.
Goodell thinks these international cities could even host a Super Bowl but emphasized that “we would like to see an NFL team in such a city first.”
When — or even whether — the NFL makes a permanent international jump remains to be seen, but Goodell seems eager for the expansion.
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