NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell aiming for 16 international games per season with Asia on horizon
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell says the league could move games to Asia next as it looks to reach 16 international games per season; watch the Pittsburgh Steelers face the Minnesota Vikings at Croke Park in Dublin live on Sky Sports NFL from 1.30pm Sunday
Saturday 27 September 2025 18:05, UK
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell says the league is aiming to reach a stage where all 32 teams are playing at least one international game per season.
The league will host its first-ever regular season game in Ireland this Sunday when the Pittsburgh Steelers face the Minnesota Vikings at Dublin's Croke Park.
It features as one of a record seven international games this season while marking one of three new host cities alongside Madrid and Berlin.
The NFL announced during Super Bowl week earlier this year that it will play a game at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground in 2026, and this week confirmed three games over five years in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil beginning next season.
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"I think our next step after Australia would be probably moving into Asia," said Goodell at a fan event in Dublin. "That's a continent we'd like to be playing in.
"We are serious about being a global sport. We would like to get to 16 games so everyone is playing one game a year internationally."
The NFL has staged 39 games in London since 2007 as it prepares to increase that total to 42 after three more matchups across Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and Wembley in October.
Germany is gearing up for its fifth game since 2022 as Berlin follows Frankfurt and Munich as a host city, while Brazil just welcomed its second game at Corinthians Arena in Sao Paulo as the Los Angeles Chargers beat the Kansas City Chiefs in Week One. Four games have also been played at Mexico City since 2016, the latest coming in November 2022 as the league put a hold on its return amid work on Estadio Azteca.
The league returns to Croke Park on Sunday three decades on from the Steelers facing the Chicago Bears in a preseason game in 1997. Goodell suggested Saturday he was confident of returning to the Emerald Isle again in the near future.
"We never like to say whether we're coming back until we finish the first one, so let's talk about it Monday. But I have no doubt this is going to be incredibly successful," said Goodell.
"I also have no doubt that we'll be back."
Watch the Steelers face the Vikings at Dublin's Croke Park live on Sky Sports NFL this Sunday, with coverage from 1.30pm ahead of kickoff at 2.30pm; Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract on NOW.
