The NFL’s international expansion now has the league in position to have as many as eight games played outside the United States on a regular basis. As expected, new markets continue to emerge on that front. 
[RELATED: NFLPA Director Speaks Out Against 18-Game Schedule]
Melbourne will become the next new host city for an NFL game. The league announced a game will take place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 2026, with the Rams serving as the designated home team. Los Angeles is one of two teams which holds international marketing rights in Australia, with the Eagles being the other.
Philadelphia represents a logical opponent for the Rams given Sydney native Jordan Mailata‘s presence. Indeed, it was recently reported by the Melbourne Herald Sun that that the Rams and Eagles would be the first two teams to face off in Australia, although the latter has not been confirmed to be heading to Melbourne at this point. More notably, the Sun report adds that the city is set to host three NFL games, with the 2026 matchup being the first in that stretch. As could be expected, the NFL Players’ Association has concerns about this endeavor.
“We believe that a game in Australia, which will involve a minimum 15-hour flight before even stepping on the field, has significant implications for our players’ rest, recovery, and performance,” an NFLPA statement reads (via Daniel Kaplan of Front Office Sports). “The players are concerned that these have not been accounted for, and we look forward to hearing from the league how they plan to address these needs.”
The timing of the Melbourne game is unclear at this point, but NFL EVP Peter O’Reilly indicated Week 1 would be the most logical option given the travel demands an Australia game will create. One preseason contest was played in Sydney in 1999, but staging regular season contests will of course provide scheduling challenges for the teams which take part. The Eagles played in Week 1 for the NFL’s first Brazil game, something which does not appear to be a one-off event.
League and Brazilian officials are in discussion about a long-term hosting arrangement, as detailed by Brooks Kubena of The Athletic (subscription required). Sao Paulo hosted a game between the Packers and Eagles this season, and another one-year deal could be in play to stage a follow-up as early as 2025 (which would likely also take place at Arena Corinthians). A desire exists, though, for a deal spanning four to six years to establish stability with respect to planning future games in the country. The possibility of Brazil hosting as many as two games per season has been brought up.
2025 will see London host three games, with Berlin set to serve as a host venue for the first time (previous Germany contests have taken place in Frankfurt and Munich). Madrid will become the first Spanish market for an NFL game this season, but further announcements on the international front (even if Sao Paulo does indeed land another game) will be worth watching for. A return to Mexico City is possible, while Dublin and Paris are also contenders to serve as NFL venues in the near future.
International football leauge. Goodell’s grand plan is every 18th game is overseas
When we’re old we’ll tell our grandkids abt the time when nfl was in US
Pretty soon all gms will be london paris brazil mexico australia tokyo south africa greenland fiji and someday in collaboration with elon musk, a game on mars
It’s nice to have the option to go, but the at-home experience has actually been better for a while. I don’t think the average fan will care.
Melbourne is a great city, but the idea of athletes traveling from the US to Australia for a very short trip and being expected to be in top form on both sides of it is bonkers. People make a big deal of the time zone issues for teams traveling from the west coast to the east coast. The closest time zone here to Melbourne is a seven hour difference, not to mention the double digit hour flight each way. Also Americans will drive Australians nuts with their pronunciation of Melbourne.
As I write this at 8:32 am PST on Feb 6, its currently 3:32 am on Feb 7 in Melbourne lol. These poor players are gonna be all out of whack.
Yup. Not to mention the good rest they don’t get on those flights.
Roger Goodell needs to be stopped.
I remember when teams complained about traveling to either east or west coast and complain about jet lag….Guess not anymore.
Goodell and the owners could care less about the fans, the league is becoming a joke. I hear there’s gonna be a football game between the concerts this Sunday in New Orleans.
Yeah, I can’t watch the Super Bowl. Between the overhyped commercials and the stupid halftime show, it’s too much and not about the actual game.
The Eagles owner already said Eagles are not giving up a home game against Rams in 2025 or 2026.
I don’t blame taxpayers for refusing to fund new stadiums when the NFL plans to take even more home games away. Goodell and the owners are watching their profits explode while the fans are getting crushed between ticket prices, streaming service costs and taxes.
To be fair, taxpayers shouldn’t fund NFL stadiums regardless of foreign games.
I completely agree, but removing home games makes it even worse.
The plan is probably 8 home, 8 away, 1 away-home, 1 away-away. That seems more fair compared to the unbalanced 17 game schedule.
I’d rather see the nfl play games at big time college stadiums
Who the hell wants to fly down to the Down Under and Kangaroo Land?
Plus, you have to be sprayed with stuff to get in the Country
Roger Goodell Sucks!
Crikey mate!
Season-wrecking overseas games now. London is still manageable (for east coast teams). Goodell really doesn’t care about player well-being.