Commissioner Roger Goodell made the rounds during the NFL’s first week of the regular season and into Thursday night’s opening of the new Highmark Stadium in Buffalo. Out of that travel that spanned continents, we’re getting a picture of his plans for league expansion.
Bottom line: Goodell sees NFL expansion outside the United States on the horizon.
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“I think if we continue to grow, continue to get the kind of reaction, I do think a franchise will be international at some point in time,” Goodell said prior to the Thursday night game between the Buffalo Bills and Detroit Lions on Prime’s pregame show.
“I think Europe is the most likely [place], for a lot of reasons. One, the length of time we’ve been playing there. But also, the scheduling is going to be a lot easier.”
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The NFL began playing regular-season games in Europe in 2007 and to date has played 55 regular-season games there.
One could also argue Europe makes sense for international expansion because most of the teams in the AFC East and NFC East and some teams in the AFC South and NFC South are within a seven-hour flight to, say, London.
Other places simply don’t make similar sense at this time.
“Australia might create a few complications for us,” Goodell admitted.
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Goodell apparently is not thinking about expanding by one team in Europe. That would throw off the league’s 32-team symmetry.
“I also believe we could have more than one team, which I think, ultimately, the support is there,” Goodell said. “Two more teams.”
So when will all this happen?
Goodell recently signed a new contract that carries his tenure as commissioner through the 2030 season. There has been speculation his goal is to have international expansion by the time his contract expires.
Is that the timeline?
“I don’t think so,” Goodell said on the Netflix pregame show recently. “There was no connection to the two.
“You know, listen, our vision here is to make it a global sport. The NFL deserves to be, it’s a great game, and we all believe in it passionately.”
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But while expansion by the end of the contract isn’t a Goodell goal, having a full season’s worth of international games is definitely on his radar.
This year the NFL is playing nine games abroad. Next year that number rises to a record 10 international games.
“I think our work here will be to get to 16 regular-season [International] games,” Goodell said. “When we get to that point, then we’ll be looking for the next, you know, stage to grow. But we think we’ll be there in a few years.
“That may happen within four years.”
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