NFL commissioner Roger Goodell recently told CNBC’s Alex Sherman it is “possible” the league will eventually add a London-based team.
“I would say that the markets outside the U.S. are very, very attractive. And we’ve got pretty good coverage here,” Goodell told Sherman.
Goodell continued, about London: “There are markets that could certainly support a team. We’ve always focused on, what are the competitive consequences of that? Can we manage that? And so every year we try to learn something from the international series.”
Goodell went on to say he initially had concerns about how much support he would get around the league when the NFL first began scheduling international regular-season games.
“But now, every team wants to do it,” Goodell told Sherman. “We don’t have to talk them into it. They’re asking us.”
NBC Sports’ Mike Florio reported in June that the NFL Players’ Association is “preparing for the NFL to eventually make a push for a four-team European division.”
London has hosted by far the most NFL games of any international city, with 42 regular-season contests taking place there heading into 2025, per ESPN’s Louisa Frahm.
Toronto (six regular-season NFL games) and Mexico City (five regular-season games) rank as the league’s other most popular regular-season hosts.
The NFL has also recently been branching out to new countries, with first-ever regular-season games in Ireland and Australia scheduled for the next two seasons.
The league has also been compressing international schedules by sending the Minnesota Vikings to play back-to-back games in Dublin and London.
London remains the NFL’s most popular international location heading into 2025. Three games are taking place in the United Kingdom this season, with two matchups taking place at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and one at Wembley Stadium.
Tottenham Hotspur was designed to host both NFL and Premier League games when it opened in 2019. The NFL is set to host at least two regular-season games per season at the venue as part of an agreement that runs through the 2029 season.
The NFL’s focus may next turn to expanding its international slate of games. The league could expand to 10 international games in 2026, but Goodell previously said he could see eventually playing as many as 16 international games per season.
Discover more from 6up.net
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.