The NFL is going global like never before this season — and wasting no time in doing so.
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The first game of the league’s 107th season kicks off with a rare Wednesday game, a Super Bowl rematch between the Seattle Seahawks and England Patriots at Lumen Field. The next day — in the league’s traditional Thursday-opening slot — the San Francisco 49ers take on the Los Angeles Rams in the first NFL game ever played in Australia. That matchup in Melbourne is the first of nine games scheduled to be played outside the United States this season, the most in league history. Games will be held on four continents, in seven countries and eight different stadiums and involving exactly half of the league’s 32 teams (the 49ers and Jacksonville Jaguars both have two international games).
Nine games in foreign countries surpasses the record of seven set last season; those games were played in five cities (Sao Paulo, Brazil; Berlin, Germany; Dublin, Ireland; Madrid, Spain; and London, England) across two continents.
Three stadiums will make their NFL debuts this season: Stade de France in Paris, the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Australia, and Estádio do Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which will be the first time that city has had an NFL game.
All of this is due to the league’s desire to grow its global fan base and drive significant revenue streams. Though dominant domestically, American football has plenty of room to grow overseas even as it finds new ways to further dominate in the U.S.
With $23 billion in total annual revenue, the NFL is already the world’s wealthiest sports league, and Commissioner Roger Goodell — who agreed to a four-yer contract extension last week — has set a target of $25 billion by 2027. The league long ago reached a saturation point for awareness domestically, but even with 183 million fans around the world there remains plenty of people who have yet to experience the drama of an NFL game in person.
The league has made inroad to doing that with its global markets program, which gives different teams marketing rights in different international cities, and then by bringing its product to those markets. Last year’s seven international games generated a total audience of 481,341 fans. This year’s number should comfortably top 600,000, and tickets remain available for the games in London, Madrid, Melbourne, Mexico City, Munich, Paris and Rio de Janeiro.. With continued popularity, could that one day mean having an NFL team based outside the U.S.? Or an entire division of NFL teams in other countries? Or having the Super Bowl take place abroad?
If those barriers are to fall, the league must continue with successfully penetrating new markets and growing its foothold in the foreign cities it has already visited. Here’s a look at each of the nine games on tap for the international calendar in 2026:
Thursday, September 10
Teams: San Francisco 49ers vs. Los Angeles Rams Location: Melbourne, Australia Venue: Melbourne Cricket Ground
The NFL’s worldwide tour begins in Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, also known as the G, which opened in 1853 and seats 100,000 people. The league has made no secret of its desire to make a trip Down Under a regular part of its schedule in years to come, but the 15-hour flights from California may limit which teams are able to take part and when those games can take place.
Sunday, September 27
Teams: Baltimore Ravens vs. Dallas Cowboys Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Venue: Estádio do Maracanã
The first of eight consecutive Sundays with a game outside the U.S. will also be the first NFL game in Rio de Janeiro. After playing in Sao Paulo each of the past two years, the NFL this season moves up the coast to Rio and will see the Ravens and Cowboys play at the venue that hosted the 2014 FIFA World Cup finals as well as the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2016 Olympic Summer Games. Much-needed renovations after those Games dropped its capacity from more than 100,000 to roughly 74,000, but it is still the largest stadium in the city and if sold out as expected will seat more people than an average game in the U.S. (69,000).
This game will also be a test to see how well America’s Team fares in other countries. The Dallas Cowboys have played just one game outside of the U.S., and that came in 2014 in London.
Sunday, October 4
Teams: Indianapolis Colts vs. Washington Commanders Location: London, England Venue: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
The European leg of the NFL season kicks off in a familiar venue: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, which has hosted at least two games in every season dating to 2019 (except the COVID year of 2020). This time it will match the Colts against the Commanders, who were known by their previous nickname when they last called on London in 2016. That game, against the Cincinnati Bengals, ended in a 27-27 tie, or what fans who normally go to that venue for UK’s version of football would call a draw.
The NFL has been playing games in London since 2007 and will have two games at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this season. (Ant UptonAP Content Services for the NFL)
Sunday, October 11
Teams: Philadelphia Eagles vs. Jacksonville Jaguars Location: London, England Venue: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
No team has stamped its passport more times than the Jacksonville Jaguars, who have been something of the NFL’s international men of mystery. They have played 14 games overseas — twice as many as any other team — despite not making their first visit abroad until 2013, eight years after the NFL’s maiden voyage in another country (Mexico City, 2005) and six years after its first game in London.
Sunday, October 18
Teams: Houston Texans vs. Jacksonville Jaguars Location: London, England Venue: Wembley Stadium
If London has become the literal home-away-from-home for the Jaguars, Wembley Stadium is its living room, the place where it is most comfortable. In all the Jags have played 12 times at Wembley compared to twice at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Overall, they have played at least one game in the United Kingdom every year starting in 2013 (again, except for 2020). All of which has fueled speculation that the league has been using the Jags to test drive a permanent team in Great Britain’s capital, whether by relocating the Jaguars or trying for an expansion franchise.
While Jacksonville has played two games in London in years past, this will be the first time it will be designated the home team in both games, thanks to stadium renovations at EverBank Stadium that are dropping capacity to just 42,507, roughly 20,000 below Hotspur Stadium and half of Wembley Stadium.
Sunday, October 25
Teams: Pittsburgh Steelers vs. New Orleans Saints Location: Paris, France Venue: Stade de France
The NFL is making its long-awaited debut in the City of Lights and doing so in a facility that is no stranger to major events. Stade de France hosted the 1998 FIFA World Cup final (won by Les Bleus) and was the main venue for the 2024 Olympic Summer Games, The Saints, who have marketing rights in Paris through the NFL’s global markets program, will have the chance to capitalize on the strong cultural ties between France and New Orleans.
Sunday, November 8
Teams: Cincinnati Bengals vs Atlanta Falcons Location: Madrid, Spain Venue: Estadio Bernabéu
Here’s one sign of the hurdle the NFL faces in becoming a global sport on par with that other football: The Associated Press reported that Real Madrid, which plays in the venue that will host this Week 9 game, has 180 million followers on Instagram. That’s more than the NFL’s 32 teams combined.
Sunday, November 15
Teams: New England Patriots vs. Detroit Lions Location: Munich, Germany Venue: Bayern Munich Stadium
Germany didn’t host its first NFL game until 2024, but the country has a strong history with American football. German-based teams won 10 of the 17 titles in NFL Europe from 1991 through 2007, though none of those teams were based in Munich, and the league claims it has 20 million fans in the country.
Sunday, November 22
Teams: Minnesota Vikings vs. San Francisco 49ers Location: Mexico City, Mexico Venue: Estadio Banorte
The last of eight straight weeks to feature an international game, the league’s foreign slate comes to a conclusion back in North America. The 49ers last international game before this season came in 2022 in this same venue, in a 38-10 win over the Arizona Cardinals. San Francisco’s first international regular season game was also the league’s first, and also came in this stadium, which at the time was known as Estadio Azteca, making this a fitting place to wrap up the league’s record-setting global tour.
2027 And Beyond
The record of nine international games won’t last long, as NFL owners have already approved 10 games in foreign markets for the 2027 season. The league is looking at Japan as one market it has yet to consider, and that is one of 13 counties in its global markets program that have yet to host a game (along with Argentina, Austria, China, Colombia, Ghana, Greece, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Nigeria, South Korea, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates). Two other countries that had teams in NFL Europe — Amsterdam and Scotland — have also not hosted a regular-season game yet.
Then there’s an even more obvious one: Canada. While America’s northern neighbors have hosted six regular season games, all have featured the Buffalo Bills and were part of that team’s specific agreement with Rogers Communications to play at Rogers Centre. Those games were not part of the NFL’s formal International Series.
The defining characteristic of the NFL in the 21st century is that its popularity seems limitless. Domestically, that has meant expanding the schedule to 18 games, putting games on Black Friday, or striking deals with streaming platforms like Netflix to carry games, all of which were met with insatiable demand. The next few decades will test the theory as to whether the league can find the same appetite abroad.
“We’re committed to continuing to grow every year in what we’re doing,” Peter O’Reilly, the NFL’s executive vice president of club business, international and league events told DAZN. “Once we go to a market, we’re committed for the long haul.”
