The NFL is getting ambitious. No longer content with just dominating the U.S., they’re itching to conquer the world—and they’ve got the flights booked. Commissioner Roger Goodell dropped a bombshell this week: if the league extends the regular season to 18 games, get ready for 16 of those matchups to happen outside of the U.S. Yes, you read that right. The NFL is ready to stamp passports like an overworked customs officer.
Goodell didn’t shy away from the details either. Dublin and Rio de Janeiro are likely next up to host games, because who doesn’t want to watch bone-crunching tackles between sips of Guinness or Caipirinhas? And if you’re a Jaguars fan (assuming those still exist), your team might be shipping off to London more often during their stadium renovations back in Jacksonville. Guess the Brits can keep Trevor Lawrence for a bit.
As of now, NFL team owners have given the thumbs up to eight international games. But why stop there? Goodell’s vision is to crank that number up to 16, which would have every single team packing their bags for an international showdown at least once a season. Imagine tailgating in Tokyo or setting up fantasy lineups at 3 a.m. for a game in Sydney. The NFL clearly wants to turn your body clock upside down.
But the grand plan hinges on one key development: expanding the regular season to 18 games and cutting down the preseason to just two. Players get fewer meaningless scrimmages, fans get more nail-biting action, and the NFL gets… well, global domination. Oh, and a second bye week gets thrown in to give players a breather after schlepping to international destinations. Jet lag is no joke.
“If we do expand our season—our regular season—to an 18-and-two structure, I see us going to 16 of those games being in international markets,” Goodell proclaimed, channeling his inner Napoleon (but with better travel plans).
And just to keep the excitement rolling, Goodell hinted that talks are already underway with the players’ union. The current labor deal runs until 2030, but both sides seem open to getting this global circus going a bit earlier.
So, what does the future hold? Well, for starters, this season has already upped the ante with five international games. Goodell says eight is the next logical step—“quickly,” of course. Dublin’s looking like a near-lock, though Madrid will sneak in a game first in 2025. “I have no doubt that we’re going to be playing in Ireland,” Goodell said, perhaps already dreaming of NFL-branded shamrocks. Meanwhile, Rio de Janeiro is on the table as Brazil’s next NFL hotspot, after Sao Paulo’s recent taste of gridiron glory.
London, which has hosted NFL regular-season games since 2007, and Germany, which joined the fray in 2022, better make room for a growing crowd of international competitors. Oh, and let’s not forget Asia, where Goodell teased the possibility of future games. “There’s probably more interest than we can handle,” he said. Spoken like a man with world domination on his mind.
Brace yourselves, NFL fans. The league is going global, and soon enough, your favorite team’s biggest rivalry could be happening halfway around the world.