NFL commissioner Roger Goodell entertained the idea of staging one international game in almost every week of the regular season in the future.
Goodell said Sunday during an interview on NFL Network the league is continuing to expand its global footprint, which increases the need to stage games abroad. Should the season grow to 18 games, an accompanying effect to the International Series could follow.
“We have our eyes set on being 16 games internationally every year,” he said. “We think we can do it.”
Goodell outlined his ambitions during an event Saturday in Dublin.
“I think our next step after Australia would be probably moving into Asia,” he said, per the Associated Press’ Ken Maguire. “That’s a continent we’d like to be playing in. We are serious about being a global sport. We would like to get to 16 games so everyone is playing one game a year internationally.”
Sixteen games would be a massive jump over the seven that make up the 2025 international schedule.
Goodell’s comments underscore how there’s an increased appetite from the teams themselves to play in foreign markets.
Peter O’Reilly, the executive vice president for the NFL’s international business, told NBC Sports’ Peter King in 2023 there has been a shift in how individual franchises view international games.
“Now, it is very much teams raising their hands,” he said. “There’s a reason that the Chiefs and the Patriots are the two designated teams these next two weeks, and that’s based on they have rights here. They raised their hands and said, ‘We want to be over there in Germany.'”
The NFL Players Association presents a hurdle to Goodell’s goal of 16 international games. NFLPA interim executive director David White told the Associated Press’ Rob Maaddi earlier this month that an 18-game regular season “certainly is not inevitable.”
Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio also noted the collective bargaining agreement caps the International Series at 10 games. The players’ union would have to sign off on adding to that number.
Given the factors at play, staging one international each week might be a long-term objective for the NFL rather than something fans can expect to see become a reality anytime soon.
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