Goodell: NFL Team Outside U.S. Is Inevitable — SkimNews
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- Roger Goodell told German outlet RTL/ntv in an interview with former NFL player Markus Kuhn that there is "no doubt" NFL teams will eventually be based outside the U.S.
- Goodell said international cities could host a Super Bowl, but only after an NFL team is permanently located there first
- NFL executive vice president Peter O'Reilly said in May that an international Super Bowl is "not a front-burner issue," contrasting with Goodell's forward-looking comments
- The NFL voted earlier this year to expand international games to as many as 10 starting in 2027, up from eight, and stripped teams' ability to protect home games from international play
- The 2026 NFL schedule features nine international games across Melbourne, Rio de Janeiro, London (three games), Paris, Madrid, Munich, and Mexico City, including a London game tied to the Jacksonville Jaguars' Wembley Stadium agreement
Why it matters: Goodell's framing links a permanent international franchise directly to hosting a Super Bowl abroad — a conditional the league hasn't committed to yet, per O'Reilly's May comments. The league has already stripped teams of home-game protections and doubled its international footprint to 10 games by 2027, meaning franchise relocation is now the only remaining structural hurdle to a foreign Super Bowl.
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