Aug 14, 2025, 09:19 AM ET<\/p>\n
The NFL<\/a> has been expanding its global footprint over the past two decades with a variety of international games. Sao Paolo, Dublin, London, Berlin and Madrid are featured cities on the NFL’s international roadmap for the 2025 season.<\/p>\n In February 2025, the NFL announced that the first regular season game in Australia would be played in 2026. The Los Angeles Rams<\/a> will be the designated home team at Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, Australia.<\/p>\n In August 2025, Karol G was revealed as the halftime show headliner for the Kansas City Chiefs<\/a> vs. Los Angeles Chargers<\/a> game in Sao Paolo, Brazil on September 5.<\/p>\n Let’s dig into the NFL’s timeline of international expansion.<\/p>\n History of NFL international efforts<\/strong><\/p>\n When and where was the NFL’s first international game?<\/p>\n The NFL has held games in other countries for almost 100 years. The first international regular-season game took place in Mexico City in 2005 between the Arizona Cardinals<\/a> and the San Francisco 49ers<\/a>. The American Bowl and NFL Europe helped drive international interest through overseas preseason games and developmental training, respectively.<\/p>\n The league stepped up its overseas efforts even more with the launch of the International Series on Oct. 28, 2007. The New York Giants<\/a> faced off against the Miami Dolphins<\/a> at London’s Wembley Stadium. The Giants won 13-10<\/a> en route to the franchise’s third Super Bowl title<\/a>. From 2007-12, Wembley Stadium hosted one regular-season NFL game each season.<\/p>\n Which team has played the most international games since the International Series kicked off?<\/p>\n The Jacksonville Jaguars<\/a> take the top spot, having played 13 games in London since 2013 — including back-to-back wins in 2023.<\/p>\n Which cities outside of the U.S. have hosted regular-season NFL games?<\/p>\n London has hosted the most regular-season games with a grand total of 42. Toronto takes second place with six, and Mexico City slots in at third with five.<\/p>\n What has contributed to the NFL’s increased popularity overseas?<\/p>\n The NFL Global Markets Program<\/a> has helped encourage growth by awarding international marketing rights to NFL teams in countries beyond the U.S. As of May 2025, all 32 NFL teams have been granted rights across 21 International Home Marketing Areas. NFL Academy campuses<\/a> in England and Australia also help to develop student-athletes through American football training, education and life skills development.<\/p>\n Where does the NFL want to take international expansion next? <\/p>\n With the popularity of London games over the past decade, there has been discussion about having a full franchise permanently located in the region. Though the Jacksonville Jaguars (with their long run of games and existing local fan base) have been floated for a possible relocation, there are no confirmed plans.<\/p>\n The league also continues to look into new markets for international games. Scotland, Canada, Greece and the United Arab Emirates are current targets.<\/p>\n Editor’s Picks<\/p>\n 2 Related<\/p>\n Overview of international search interest in the NFL<\/strong><\/p>\n *Stats pulled from Google Trends<\/a> in July 2025<\/p>\n Top NFL questions outside of the U.S. over the past year:<\/p>\n When is the NFL draft?<\/p>\n<\/li>\n When does the NFL season start?<\/p>\n<\/li>\n How many NFL teams are there?<\/p>\n<\/li>\n How many games in NFL season?<\/p>\n<\/li>\n How long is an NFL game?<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Where to watch NFL?<\/p>\n<\/li>\n What does NFL stand for?<\/p>\n<\/li>\n How long is NFL halftime?<\/p>\n<\/li>\n How many quarters in NFL?<\/p>\n<\/li>\n When does NFL free agency start? <\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n Top countries outside of the U.S. searching for the NFL over the past year: <\/p>\n Canada<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Mexico <\/p>\n<\/li>\n Australia<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Ireland<\/p>\n<\/li>\n New Zealand<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Dominican Republic<\/p>\n<\/li>\n United Kingdom<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Germany<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Venezuela<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Austria <\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n Examining the 2024-25 NFL season through an international search lens<\/strong><\/p>\n Top-searched NFL teams outside the U.S. over the past year include:<\/p>\n Kansas City Chiefs<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n Philadelphia Eagles<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n Buffalo Bills<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n Dallas Cowboys<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n Detroit Lions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n San Francisco 49ers<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n Baltimore Ravens<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n Green Bay Packers<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n Las Vegas Raiders <\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n Top-searched NFL players outside the U.S. over the past year include:<\/p>\n Travis Kelce<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n Patrick Mahomes<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n Aaron Rodgers<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n Josh Allen <\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n Tyreek Hill<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n Saquon Barkley <\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n Jalen Hurts<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n Joe Burrow <\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n Lamar Jackson<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n Russell Wilson <\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n Rising NFL queries worldwide over the past year include:<\/p>\n Playoff picture NFL<\/p>\n<\/li>\n NFL draft order 2025<\/p>\n<\/li>\n NFL trade deadline<\/p>\n<\/li>\n NFL MVP race<\/p>\n<\/li>\n NFL scores<\/p>\n<\/li>\n NFL standings<\/p>\n<\/li>\n NFL coverage map<\/p>\n<\/li>\n NFL stat leaders<\/p>\n<\/li>\n NFL free agents 2025 <\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n Rising queries in upcoming international NFL game locations<\/strong><\/p>\n Rising NFL queries in Sao Paolo over the past year include:<\/p>\n Rising NFL queries in Dublin over the past year include:<\/p>\n Rising NFL queries in London over the past year include:<\/p>\n NFL stats<\/p>\n<\/li>\n NFL season start 2025<\/p>\n<\/li>\n NFL London games 2025<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Rising NFL queries in Berlin over the past year include:<\/p>\n Rising NFL queries in Madrid over the past year include: <\/p>\n For the latest intel on the NFL, check out the ESPN hub page<\/a> for stats<\/a>, scores<\/a>, standings<\/a>, depth charts<\/a> and more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Aug 14, 2025, 09:19 AM ET The NFL has been expanding its global footprint over the past two…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":145219,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[1232,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-145218","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-nfl","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-unitedstates","12":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115027453062009946","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145218"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145218\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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