The NFL is hoping to add two more international games in 2026, league executives said Tuesday, via Ben Fischer of Sports Business Journal.
Per Fischer, that does not necessarily mean Saudi Arabia or some other country could get its first international game. Saudi Arabia has expressed an interest in hosting an NFL game.
The league already has confirmed a game for Australia in 2026, and Commissioner Roger Goodell has confirmed the NFL is returning to Mexico City for the first time since 2022.
If the league continues to play three games in the United Kingdom and one each in Ireland, Germany, Spain and Brazil, as it did this season, that’s nine international games. Nine is the current maximum under a 2023 NFL resolution that allows for eight league-operated games overseas plus the Jaguars’ annual game in London.
“We have seven games this year, and six of those are league-organized, and we do believe next year there will be more than that,” NFL senior VP/managing director international Gerrit Meier said, via Fischer. “Whether that leads to the maximum of eight league-organized games or not, we will see, but the definite idea is to get ourselves more to the maximum.”
There is a question about whether Ireland stays in the rotation in 2026, according to Fischer. If not, a new market could open next year.
The league eventually wants to play 16 international games per season. That could mean having multiple games in a country, like it currently does in the United Kingdom.
“For now, as we have limited inventory, we will spread those to the new markets,” Meier said.
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