From 2027, the NFL expands its international schedule: ten league games outside the USA, with the possibility of eleven in total
The NFL has taken a new step in its strategy of expanding American football beyond the United States of America. Club owners approved an increase in the number of league-organized international games from the 2027 season, meaning that up to ten regular-season games may be played outside the USA. According to reports from owners' meetings and announcements by American media outlets that cover the league, that number does not include the traditional London game of the Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley, which means that the total international schedule in 2027 could reach as many as eleven games. This is a continuation of the NFL's accelerated global plan, after the league had already announced a record nine games for the 2026 season on four continents, in seven countries and at eight stadiums.
What exactly was approved
According to an NBC Sports report, NFL executive vice president for club business, major events and international activities Peter O'Reilly confirmed that owners at the meetings in May 2026 approved a proposal by which the upper limit of league-run international games is increased from eight to ten. That change applies to the 2027 season and represents a formal expansion of the space the NFL has for arranging schedules outside the USA. In practice, the number of games may be even higher if the special London arrangement of the Jacksonville Jaguars is added, a club that has had a strong connection with Wembley and the British market for years.
Sports Business Journal previously reported that the proposal was presented to owners as part of a broader strategy under which the league wants to seek growth in international markets, because the domestic market is already highly developed. That context is important: increasing the number of international games is not an isolated change in the calendar, but part of the NFL's commercial, media and fan policy. In doing so, the league is trying to turn games in London, Mexico, Germany, Brazil, Spain, France and Australia into a regular element of the season, not occasional promotional trips.
The previous model allowed clubs a certain level of protection for home games, meaning the possibility that some matchups would not be moved abroad. According to reports on the new rules, that protection is being further reduced or removed, giving the league more room to select more attractive matchups. This matters because the international schedule is no longer reserved only for games that are less interesting from a marketing standpoint. The NFL is increasingly sending divisional matchups, clubs with large fan bases and teams that hold international marketing rights in specific markets outside the USA.
The record 2026 season as preparation for an even bigger step
On May 13, 2026, the NFL announced the full international schedule for the 2026 season, which includes nine regular-season games outside the USA. According to the league's official announcement, the games will be played in Melbourne, Rio de Janeiro, London, Paris, Madrid, Munich and Mexico City. This means the NFL will play official regular-season games for the first time in Australia, Brazil and France, while returning to already familiar markets in the United Kingdom, Spain, Germany and Mexico.
The NFL's official announcement states that the 2026 schedule is the most extensive international package in league history: nine games, four continents, seven countries and eight stadiums. Such a schedule shows how the league is testing travel logistics, television time slots, commercial activations, ticket sales and teams' adaptation to changes in the rhythm of the season. If 2026 passes without major organizational problems, the 2027 season could become the first in which the international package reaches a double-digit number of games in a league arrangement, or eleven when the special Jaguars game is included.
It is also important that sixteen teams, or half the league, are participating in the 2026 international schedule. Such a distribution reduces the impression that international games are a burden for only a few clubs and gradually accustoms all organizations to travel outside the USA. According to Sports Business Journal reports, the NFL has already begun reducing the automatic need for teams to receive a bye week immediately after an international game. This points to the conclusion that the league is preparing for a scenario in which games abroad will be a normal part of the schedule, not an exception requiring special protection.
Why the Jaguars game is important in calculating the total number
The Jacksonville Jaguars have a special role in the NFL's international strategy. For years, the club has been the most recognizable American football brand in London, and Wembley is often linked specifically with the Jaguars in the NFL context. Because of that, their game in London is generally treated differently from the part of the schedule directly managed by the league. When the increase of the upper limit of league international games to ten is discussed, that game is not counted in the same package.
That is why American reports use the wording that the NFL is "moving toward ten international games", but the actual number in 2027 could be eleven. If the league uses the full new capacity of ten games and if the Jaguars again play their game at Wembley, the international part of the season would reach the largest scope in the history of the competition. Such a schedule would have direct consequences for the calendar, the sale of television rights, team preparation, travel and the availability of the most attractive matchups to fans outside the USA.
The Jaguars' special status also shows how the NFL is not relying only on one-off events, but on long-term connections between clubs and markets. London is the league's first major international stronghold, but it is no longer the only one. Germany has become an exceptionally important market in recent years, Mexico has a deep fan base, Brazil has been opened as a South American growth channel, and Australia and France are entering the circle of new destinations that could gain a permanent role in the coming seasons.
Global markets and the commercial logic of expansion
The NFL's Global Markets Program further explains why the number of games outside the USA is increasing. According to the league's official information, the program enables clubs to obtain international marketing rights in certain markets, including local events, fan activities, commercial partnerships and the development of the NFL Flag program. The league states that from 2026 all 32 clubs are participating in the program, with rights distributed across 22 international markets, and Italy added as a new market.
Such a model creates a link between the sporting schedule and business development. A club that has marketing rights in a certain country can build a fan base there, sell sponsorship packages and develop local activities, while a regular-season game gives that strategy significantly greater weight. In this way, the NFL is trying to avoid a situation in which international games are only events for neutral viewers. The goal is to create lasting fan identities and local connections with individual franchises.
A young audience is especially important in this strategy. NFL Flag, a non-contact version of American football, is used as an entry point for children, schools and sports programs outside the USA. According to the league's official announcements, it is precisely through global markets and the development of Flag football that longer-term interest in the sport is being built. Regular-season games serve as the pinnacle of that strategy because they give international markets an event that has competitive weight and directly affects the season.
From promotional games to a regular part of the season
The NFL's international story did not begin in 2026, but it has now reached a phase of much faster growth. According to the NFL's official archival information, the first regular-season game outside the USA was played on October 2, 2005, in Mexico City, when the Arizona Cardinals hosted the San Francisco 49ers. That matchup marked a turning point because it showed that a game that counts in the standings can attract great interest outside the American market.
After that, London became the most important permanent European destination. At first, international games were perceived as special events, often accompanied by discussions about logistics, pitch quality, the impact of travel and the loss of home-field advantage. Today, the discussion has shifted toward the question of how quickly the NFL can expand the package without disrupting competitive balance and player workload. The increase to ten league games from 2027 shows that owners are ready to accelerate that process.
Commissioner Roger Goodell has spoken several times about the long-term goal of sixteen international games per season, which would mean that each of the 32 teams plays once a year outside the USA, probably in a system of rotating hosts and visitors. Such a model would make sense especially if the regular season were one day expanded from 17 to 18 games, something that has been discussed in NFL circles for some time. Still, such an expansion is not a simple decision because it would have to include an agreement with the players' union, questions of player safety, revenue distribution and calendar adjustment.
Competitive consequences and the question of home field
The most sensitive issue of international games remains the loss of a home game for individual clubs. In the NFL, every regular-season game is extremely important because there are few of them compared with most other professional leagues. When one home game is moved abroad, the club loses part of the usual advantage of its own stadium, travel routine and local atmosphere. On the other hand, the league treats international games as a shared interest of all owners, because global growth can increase the overall value of media and commercial rights.
Removing the possibility for clubs to protect certain home games further changes the balance of power. If the NFL wants to send stronger rivalry matchups outside the USA, it must have the freedom to choose games that will attract international audiences and television partners. This may mean that, in the future, matchups with major competitive stakes will increasingly go abroad, not only games that are less risky for the American market from a marketing perspective.
Concrete sporting challenges remain for players and coaches. Travel across multiple time zones, changes in training rhythm, different stadiums and different recovery conditions can affect preparation. The NFL is trying to mitigate these challenges by planning time slots, accommodation and bye-week schedules, but the expansion of the international package means such challenges will become more frequent. That is exactly why the 2026 season is an important test: the league will use it to measure how much the system can expand without a visible decline in organizational quality.
What fans can expect in 2027
If the approved framework is used in full, the international schedule for 2027 will be the largest in NFL history. Ten league-organized games outside the USA, with a potential additional Jaguars game in London, would bring the league closer to the goal of making international football a weekly constant during a large part of the season. That would increase the chances that a larger number of clubs enter the international cycle and that games are distributed across more markets.
At the moment, it has not been officially confirmed which countries and stadiums will host games in 2027. According to available information, the NFL continues to consider new markets, including Italy and Japan, while existing destinations such as London, Germany, Mexico, Spain and Brazil remain an important part of the strategy. The owners' decision from May 2026 therefore does not mean only a larger number of games, but also greater flexibility in shaping the map of the global NFL.
For the league, the message is clear: international games are no longer an addition to the season, but an increasingly important part of it. Nine games in 2026 set a new record, and the approved ten league games from 2027, with a possible eleventh matchup through the Jaguars' London program, show that the NFL plans to continue expanding the boundaries of the regular season. The next step will be the announcement of specific hosts and matchups, but the direction is already clearly defined: American football is increasingly trying to position itself as a global sports product.
Sources:
- NFL Media – official announcement of the international schedule for the 2026 season, including countries, cities and the scope of the record (link)
- NFL Football Operations – summary of the official international schedule for 2026 and Peter O'Reilly's statement (link)
- NBC Sports / ProFootballTalk – report on the approval of the increase of international games to ten from 2027 and the possibility of an eleventh game with the Jaguars (link)
- Sports Business Journal – report on the proposal to owners, the business logic of expansion and the Jaguars' role in the total number of games (link)
- NFL – official information on the Global Markets Program and the expansion of clubs' international marketing rights (link)
- NFL Football Operations – information on the expansion of the Global Markets Program in 2026 and the inclusion of all clubs in international markets (link)
- NFL.info – archival announcement about the first regular-season game outside the USA, played in 2005 in Mexico City (link)