At the Sunday game between the Carolina Panthers and New York Giants in Munich, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell confirmed the league’s plan to play eight games outside of the United States next season.
“We are definitely going to Spain, we [already] announced that,” he told NFL Network reporter Colleen Wolfe.
The NFL returned to Munich on Sunday as the Carolina Panthers beat the New York Giants. Goodell also mentioned, “We expect to return to Mexico City. We expect to return to Brazil. We will certainly be back in the UK, and we’re also looking at the potential of another game in the UK area in Ireland, possibly.”
He added, “That’s a possibility. And we’ll certainly be back here in Germany. So if that total’s eight, that’s what we’re shooting for.”
Although Ireland has never hosted a regular season NFL game, Dublin’s Aviva Stadium has held six College Football Classic games since 2012.
Another famous venue in Dublin, Croke Park, could also be considered as a location, after it hosted a preseason game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Chicago Bears in 1997.
During the 2024 season, the NFL played five games outside of the US. Starting next year, the league plans to increase that number to up to eight international games each season.
The NFL will make its debut in Spain in 2025, with Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu Stadium set to host a game next year.
In September, the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Green Bay Packers at Arena Corinthians in São Paulo, Brazil, during the opening week of the season. This was the first ever NFL game played in South America.
This season, the league held five overseas games, three of which were in London in October.
