By Peter Carline, Lauren Smith and Alex Andrejev
LONDON — Roger Goodell could see the NFL playing 16 games in international markets if the league moves to an 18-game regular season, he said Saturday in London.
The NFL announced late last year that its International Series would expand to eight games beginning in the 2025 season. The league has visited England, Mexico, Germany and Brazil since the series debuted in 2007. The 2024 schedule features five games in the series, including three that have yet to be played.
“We want to get there quickly,” Goodell said about increasing to eight international games. “If we do expand our regular season — to an 18 and two (preseason games) structure — I see us going to 16 of those games in international markets.”
Regarding the selection of markets, Goodell said the league has to consider the “right decisions on what’s going to accelerate our growth on a global basis.”
“Brazil was a big step for us because we had never played in South America,” he said. “That was an important element for us. We’re looking at other continents and other markets that we’ve never played in or haven’t played the regular-season games, and we want to get to those.”
Goodell made the comments at a fan event at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, which will host Sunday’s game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Chicago Bears. He discussed Rio de Janeiro as a potential future host city after São Paulo hosted a game this season. Goodell was also asked about the league’s growth in Ireland, as there has been speculation about Dublin as a host city, though he didn’t make any promises.
“It’s a variety of issues,” he said about what the NFL looks for in new markets. “We look at everything, obviously. Stadiums, obviously, whether we have a strong fan base there, what’s our media coverage? What are the other facilities — like hotels and the travel, which is a big piece of it.
“But really our goal is to be a global sport,” he continued. “We want to have our game played on a global basis, and we want to bring our game to a global audience. So we’re looking at markets that we’d like to be in, that maybe we haven’t gotten a fan development.”
Goodell also said the Jaguars are considering increasing the number of London games they play while their stadium in Florida is being renovated. Asked about the London experience Saturday, Jaguars coach Doug Pederson called it a “great opportunity for our team and players to see we’re going to come over and make that commitment.”
“I think that’s something that in the next couple years is probably going to be in the conversation,” Pederson said. “We may have to play three games or something over here, which would be OK. I know those conversations are coming.”
The NFL has now played regular-season games at stadiums internationally for nearly two decades, since the Arizona Cardinals picked up a Week 4 win over the San Francisco 49ers in 2005 at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.
Two seasons later, the league began its International Series, playing a regular-season game at London’s Wembley Stadium for the first time, when the New York Giants earned a Week 8 win over the Miami Dolphins. The series has been part of the NFL schedule annually since (apart from 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic). The NFL has also played six games at Toronto’s Rogers Centre between 2008 and 2013.
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The Philadelphia Eagles opened the season with a win over the Green Bay Packers in the league’s first trip to Corinthians Arena in São Paulo in September, while the still-undefeated Minnesota Vikings beat the New York Jets last week at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the first of three London games this season.
The NFL has played two games a year at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium since 2019 — the pandemic season aside — and will continue to do so at the multi-purpose ground until 2030 at least.
After the Jaguars play the Bears this Sunday at Tottenham, they will have a meeting with the New England Patriots next week at Wembley. The Jaguars — who are 6-5 in London — first played in England in 2013. They signed a three-year deal to play at Wembley in 2022 and it is anticipated that they will extend that deal in the immediate future.
The NFL wraps up this season’s international schedule when the Giants and Carolina Panthers meet at Munich’s Allianz Arena in Week 10.
The league announced in February plans to travel to Spain next year for a game at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid.
(Photo: Mitchell Leff / Getty Images)
