The NFL Goes Global: What’s Driving the Push Abroad?

September 10 was a historic day for the NFL as it hosted a match at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). It’s a stadium that regularly draws over 100,000 fans for cricket matches, especially around Boxing Day every year. The stadium was again packed to full capacity in September this year as the NFL fans were there to watch the 49ers beat the Rams 27-7. It was the seventh-biggest crowd for a regular-season game in NFL history.

A few weeks later, the league was in Rio, then in London three weekends in a row. This season has nine international games in seven countries, a record.

Why does the NFL look abroad?

At home, the league’s growth has settled. The audience is huge and mostly spoken for, and US sports betting has given even casual fans a reason to follow games they might once have skipped. Overseas, millions of people already follow the sport without much of a local product to support.

The stated goal is 16 international games a season. Owners have approved up to 10 starting in 2027, the cap under the current labor agreement. Going higher requires the players’ union’s agreement. League executive Peter O’Reilly has called the approach ‘not one and done,’ meaning the NFL plans to keep coming back to the same markets.

All 32 teams also hold marketing rights in the Global Markets Program, spread across 22 international markets. South Korea, Italy, Argentina, Colombia and the UAE are on the list. Those are testing grounds, and none of them has a game yet.

The 2026 slate

Nine games, 16 teams, four continents. After Melbourne came Rio de Janeiro, then London. Paris, Madrid, Munich and Mexico City are still ahead. France hosts its first game this season, and Madrid returns after its debut in 2025.

Scheduling it proved to be a real puzzle. The league generated more than 100,000 possible schedules and kept about 6,000 that were playable. The things it took into consideration included time zones, bye weeks, and kickoff times for each one.

Right now, each team is guaranteed an international game at least once every eight years. At 16 games a season, all 32 teams could play abroad every year.

Where the games land

London is the model. The first game at Wembley was in 2007, and 42 regular-season games later, more than 3 million fans have come through. The league puts the number of NFL fans in the UK at more than 17 million. Tottenham’s stadium was built with NFL needs in mind, and it’s contracted to host at least two games a year through 2029.

Mexico City’s league-estimated fan base is about 40 million, and a commitment covers 2026 through 2028. Australia has a local office and an academy. An independent survey there counted 8.8 million self-described fans, and the new agreement guarantees at least two games over four years.

Germany has games planned in Munich and Berlin through 2029. Brazil is hosting for a third straight year, and the 2025 game in São Paulo drew 17.3 million viewers worldwide. Japan looks like the likeliest next market.

The travel problem

A week in Melbourne is not a normal road trip. The 49ers arrived about a week early. The Rams came the day before kickoff. Both head coaches have voiced doubts about making long hauls like that routine.

Recovery turns into part of the game plan. Teams plan around sleep and hydration and try various wellness trends to cope with jet lag. The league’s own planners weigh arrival and kickoff times for every pairing, and a second bye week has been discussed, though nothing is agreed.

What it means for players

A game in a foreign stadium is a bigger stage than a regular Sunday. Brand-building players tend to treat it that way, since a new market means new fans and new sponsors. Picture a quarterback getting mobbed at an airport in Madrid. He has just learned something about his reach.

Every team already holds marketing rights in markets overseas, so a player’s club is selling in those places whether he travels or not.

A team overseas?

Commissioner Roger Goodell said in August that he had ‘no doubt’ an international team would happen eventually. In September, he said Europe was the likeliest place and that more than one team could make sense. Jerry Jones thinks it’s still pretty far off.

The obstacles are practical. Travel, scheduling, player recruitment, taxes, and repeated Atlantic crossings for playoff teams all get in the way.