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Reports: NFL could expand to 40 teams, have European division
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Reports: NFL could expand to 40 teams, have European division

By Zac Wassink  |  Last updated Mar 29, 2023 3:40 PM ET

Football fans who think the NFL is at its best with 32 teams won't love the latest predictions regarding the league. 

As shared by Matt Audilet of The Spun, NFL insider Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk explained during a Wednesday appearance on "The Pat McAfee Show" that he believes expansion in the league is essentially unavoidable and won't stop at only a couple more teams when all is said and done. 

"I think they're going to start moving that number from 32 to 34 to 36, 38, eventually 40," Florio said. 

Audilet alluded to the fact that not every new team could be located in the United States or even North America. Per John Breech of CBS Sports, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell hinted this past October it's a matter of when and not if London will have at least one franchise to call its own. 

"There's no question that London could support, not just one franchise, I think two franchises. I really believe that," Goodell said at that time. "That's from a fan perspective, from a commercial standpoint, from a media standpoint. I think [London] has proven that."

Goodell added that there could be one entire international division that would compete in the NFL. 

Interestingly, A.J. Perez of Front Office Sports reported Wednesday that some within the NFL believe international expansion could come sooner than later. 

"We don’t know if it’s going to happen in two years, five years, or whenever, but there’s going to be an international division," an unnamed owner told Perez. 

The NFL announced in January that London will host three regular-season games in 2023 and that Germany will have two contests. 

Florio mentioned that a supposed international division could involve European clubs staying on the East Coast of the United States "two or three weeks at a time" for non-divisional portions of a schedule. 

(Warning: Video contains not-safe-for-work language) 

"Having just one team in London could be problematic," an NFL owner told Front Office Sports. "It does sound crazy, but it’d be more economical (having a four-team European division)." 

Meanwhile, Florio suggested there aren't enough good quarterbacks for the NFL to grow to 40 teams today. 

"Is there ever going to be enough quarterbacks for there to be 40 NFL teams? I think that would be the ultimate maximum number," Florio continued. 

The NFL already inconveniences players and fans with its "Thursday Night Football" schedule, by flexing games out of broadcast windows and by moving home contests overseas on a yearly basis. It seems inevitable the league will one day go to a format that includes 18 regular-season games, and it also sounds like the league could have at least 36 total clubs by the end of the decade.

Zac Wassink
Twitter/X Muck Rack

Zac Wassink is a longtime sports news writer and PFWA member who began his career in 2006 and has had his work featured on Yardbarker, MSN, Yahoo Sports and Bleacher Report. He is also a football and futbol aficionado who is probably yelling about Tottenham Hotspur at the moment and who chanted for Matt Harvey to start the ninth inning of Game 5 of the 2015 World Series at Citi Field. You can find him on X at @ZacWassink

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