The NFL is looking to expand in a big way. During Tuesday’s announcement of the league’s 17-game regular-season schedule that will start this fall, Commissioner Roger Goodell said the NFL is looking to have games in multiple international locations. Two of the locations that stand out are Germany and South America.
According to Pro Football Talk, the South American country that will likely host an NFL game is Brazil. This is all part of the NFL’s international series, which will start back up next year. “The enhanced season will ensure that beginning in 2022, all 32 clubs will play internationally at least once every eight years,” the NFL said in a press release. “The scheduling of up to four neutral-site games per year in a country outside the United States will focus initially on Canada, Europe, Mexico, South America and the United Kingdom. In addition, interested clubs can continue to volunteer to play home games internationally, as is currently the case.”
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Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk explained why the NFL is looking to host games in Germany. He wrote, “It’s a big, wealthy country. It has a large English-speaking population. And American football has a fan base there, including many fans who supported the German teams in the now-defunct NFL Europe league.” The NFL has been playing international games consistently since 2005. Four games have been played in Mexico City, six in Toronto and 28 in London.
In the meantime, the NFL’s focus is on the expansion of the schedule. All 32 teams approved the move and one less preseason game will be played each year. The 17th game will feature teams from opposing conferences that finished in the same place within their division the previous year.
“This is a monumental moment in NFL history,” Goodell said. “The CBA with the players and the recently completed media agreements provide the foundation for us to enhance the quality of the NFL experience for our fans. And one of the benefits of each team playing 17 regular-season games is the ability for us to continue to grow our game around the world.” Along with the 17-game schedule, the NFL announced Super Bowl LVI would be played on Sunday, February 13, 2022. The game will take place at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
