Given the increasing number of international games, commissioner Roger Goodell said it’s a foregone conclusion that the NFL will have a team based outside of the United States.
“At some point, there will be NFL teams outside the USA. I have no doubt that this will happen one day,” Goodell told former NFL player Markus Kuhn for German broadcaster RTL/ntv.
Goodell didn’t stop there, saying that once an NFL team has set up camp in a foreign country, its home field potentially could serve as a host to a Super Bowl.
“There are definitely international cities that could host something like that,” Goodell said. “But we would like to see an NFL team in such a city first.”
The NFL will play an all-time high nine games outside the United States this season, including three in England.
The 2026 slate features games across four continents, including first-time host countries France (Paris) and Australia (Melbourne). Rio de Janeiro is a host city for the first time, while other games will be in Munich, Madrid and Mexico City.
