The NFL Expands Its International Presence With 7 Games Overseas
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and Dublin lord mayor Emma Blain prepare for the first NFL game in ... More the Republic of Ireland. (Adam Hunger/AP Content Services for the NFL)
The National Football League continues its move toward a greater global presence with an expanded international schedule that features a league-high seven regular-season games in 2025.
Berlin, Madrid and Dublin will be first-time hosts, and the league will play three games in London — two at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and one at long-time venue Wembley Stadium — and one in Sao Paulo, Brazil, a site first-visited in 2024.
The NFL plans more.
"We're going to have eight games a year, minimum,' NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said on Good Morning Football on the NFL Network.
Goodell added that if/when the league moves to 18 regular season games and two exhibition games, 'we likely will see even more international games. I hope someday we'll be playing 16.
"We feel like this game is destined to be global.'
The NFL already has announced that the Los Angeles Rams will play at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, Australia, in 2026.
The Eagles beat the Green Bay Packers 34-29 in Week 1 in Sao Paulo last season, the first NFL game held in Brazil. The game drew 47,236 at Arena Corinthians. Eagles running back Saquon Barkley provided a glimpse of things to come by scoring three touchdowns.
'Man, did Brazil get a great game tonight or what?' Philadelphia coach Nick Sirianni said. 'I know we converted some people to be big-time football fans tonight.'
In addition to the increased international flavor, the schedule includes another quirk.
The Minnesota Vikings are to play consecutive games in the British Isles when they meet the Minnesota Vikings in Dublin, Ireland on Sept. 28 and the Cleveland Browns in Tottenham on Oct. 5. The Vikings have said they will remain overseas to practice between games.
As one of the perks of the long trip, the Vikings will be the designated 'visiting' team in both games on the continent so as not to lose more than one home game at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
The full NFL schedule is to be released Wednesday.
The Los Angeles Chargers will open their season in Brazil against an opponent yet to be revealed on Sept. 5, a day after the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles meet the Dallas Cowboys in the 2025 regular-season opener in Philly.
Tottenham will host a second game Oct. 12, when the Denver Broncos play the New York Jets. The Los Angeles Rams and Jacksonville Jaguars will meet in Wembley Stadium on Oct. 19.
After a two-week break, new venues in Berlin and Madrid will take center stage. The Atlanta Falcons will play the Indianapolis Colts at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin on Nov. 9.
The Washington Commanders will meet the Miami Dolphins no Nov. 16 at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid, the home of Real Madrid.
The Jets, Jaguars, Colts and Dolphins are the designated 'home' games when they play overseas.
London's Wembley Stadium was the site of the first 14 NFL games played overseas, and London has held an NFL game every year since 2017 except for the Covid-19 pandemic season of 2020. Crowds typically are in the 86,000 range when the NFL plays in Wembley.
The NFL already has announced that the Rams will play at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, Australia, in 2026.
Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, which has a capacity of 78,297, has a retractable roof to guard against weather conditions. It has been the home of top international side Real Madrid since its construction in 1947.
Bernabeu has hosted the UEFA Champions League final four times, most recently in 2010. It is the second largest stadium in Spain to Barcelona's Camp Nou, which is the home of FC Barcelona and can seat 99,354.
Dublin's Croke Park is a sports/entertainment facility that holds 82,300 for soccer after a series of expansion projects that ended in 2005. It is the fourth-largest stadium in Europe.
Notre Dame-Navy played the first college football game there in 1996, and Penn State met Central Florida in in 2014. U2 has played 10 concerts there, and Muhammad Ali fought Al Lewis there in 1972.
The Olympic Stadium in Berlin was built for the 1936 Olympic Games, where U.S. sprinter Jesse Owens won gold medals in the 100-meter dash, the 200-meter dash, the long jump, and as part of the 4x100-meter relay team.
The stadium was expanded in 2004 and has a capacity of 74,475. It is the largest stadium in Germany.
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