The NFL’s inexorable march toward playing a full season’s worth of games abroad took another step Tuesday when club owners approved adding one more international game for the 2027 season, bringing that number to a record 10 games.
And there’s also a possibility the league might be able to add an 11th international game pending NFL Players Association approval.
So, yes, the NFL is fully invested in the export business now and its games are the product it is sending overseas.
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The NFL this season will set a new record with nine international games played in Melbourne, Australia, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Madrid, Spain, Paris, France, Munich, Germany and Mexico City, Mexico and three in London, England.
Club owners approved increasing the number of international games at a meeting in Orlando, per NFL Executive Vice President Peter O’Reilly.
And if you think it will stop at 10 or 11 international games, you’d be mistaken. The league’s ultimate goal is to play a full season of games internationally. That means a whopping 17 or 18 games abroad.
That also means an international game every week of the season.
And that also means every team playing one international game every season.
The proliferation of international games is so acute that league executives are well on their way to not differentiating how they view games in America and games abroad.
“We don’t lock in our international games like we used to do not that long ago,” said NFL Vice President of Broadcasting and Planning Mike North. “I mean, you guys will remember, we’ve announced international games at times in November for the following season. I think it’s indicative of how our fans and our teams and our partners are treating these games now.
“I don’t want to call them routine. I know they’re not. But they’re just another NFL game on the schedule.”
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The current Collective Bargaining Agreement limits the league to 10 international games a year, but there is an exception for teams that are unable to play at their regular home stadium. That will be the case for the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2027.
EverBank Stadium, currently undergoing renovations, will be completely closed during the 2027 season. So the Jaguars have agreed to use Camping World Stadium in Orlando as their temporary home field. That means the NFL hopes to use the Jaguars game at Wembley Stadium as its 11th international game.
O’Reilly also said the league has begun exploring the possibility of playing games in Japan. The league held preseason games there in the early 1990s, but the effort was short-lived. Now, according to O’Reilly, the idea is back.
And what does this mean for, you know, Americans living in the United States?
It means the NFL, which long ago surpassed baseball as the national sport, is increasingly wanting to dominate the world.
So, 10 or 11 games that would otherwise be played in the United States, won’t be. And the league plans to increase the number.
It means that the outsourcing of games temporarily takes home games away from local fans, although that complaint loses steam if the league expands to 18 games and local fans still get eight or nine home games per season as they do now.
It also means the NFL fully embraces the idea of turning some NFL Sundays into marathon events with an international game starting at 9:30 a.m. (ET), followed by the regular 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. windows on the East Coast, and the primetime 8:20 p.m. game to end the day — about 14 hours of NFL games on television.
The NFL, like it or not, is intent on continuing its expansion and because it already covers every corner of the United States, it has its sights set internationally. And it isn’t looking away because adding the international fan base is potentially a new revenue stream.
Some fans in the United States may balk at the idea they have to share their teams on some level with international venues and fans.
But the NFL has clearly determined that any potential loss will be outweighed by the growth of its international fan base.
