With the NFL’s popularity and global following growing rapidly, countless football fans and pundits have called for the league to add expansion teams outside of the United States.
The league’s popularity has grown so much that the NFL now runs multiple games outside of the U.S. each year. For 2023, there will be three games played in London, and two in Germany. The league also played games in Mexico in 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2022.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter hosted NFL Executive Vice President Peter O’Reilly on his podcast, and the topic of expansion outside of the U.S. was brought up. During the interview, O’Reilly hinted that the NFL could definitely add an international team in the future, citing the strong following they get overseas (h/t Eva Geitheim of ClutchPoints):
“The fans are there, you can sell out those games. We’ve got strong stadiums like Tottenham, that was purposefully build for NFL games. You got government support. That said it’s complicated. There’s nothing imminent there. When you think about competitive dynamics, making sure it’s fair, logistical dynamics, there’s a lot more to still be worked there. The fact that we’re having this conversation shows that the fandom is there and the support is there.”
Among the “big four” North American professional sports leagues, the NFL is the only one that doesn’t have a team outside of the U.S. There are seven Canadian teams in the NHL, one MLB franchise (Toronto Blue Jays) and one NBA club (Toronto Raptors).
Adding an international team would be well-received by countless football fans around the world, but it’s also easier said than done. If the league were to look at a team in Europe, it would be awfully difficult to come up with a fair schedule given the time zone differences.
Click on ‘Follow Us’ and get notified of the most viral NFL stories via Google! Follow Us
It’s something that could happen in future, alright. But as O’Reilly emphasized, nothing is “imminent” at this time.
