The Lions haven't played an international game in 10 years - here's why

With this new wave of increasing international games each year in the NFL, you would expect that a rising team like the Detroit Lions would have been scheduled for one by now, but that has not been the case.

Why won't the NFL schedule Detroit overseas?

It's quite baffling that the Lions haven't played an international game in so long. The Lions' last international game was in 2015, when they lost 45-10 to the Kansas City Chiefs. Before that game, the Lions played in London the year before, beating the Falcons 22-21.

After playing back-to-back international games in 2014 and 2015, the Lions have yet to be scheduled for another game overseas. Since the Lions' last international game, just two other NFL teams have not played overseas, the Cowboys and the Steelers. The Steelers will break that streak this season.

I want to preface this by saying I have no direct sources. This is simply speculation, but I have an idea as to why this international drought has occurred for the Lions.

I believe that after back-to-back international games in 15 and 16, the Lions organization themselves didn't want to keep going overseas. Right after this stretch is when the Lions became a really bad team, increasing their chances at an overseas game, but I think the Lions didn't want it.

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Now, the Lions are a great team, and the organization is in a much better spot, but the NFL doesn't love to send its best and highest-rated teams overseas often. Outside of the Chiefs, most of the teams playing overseas this season are either bad teams or not popular good teams.

The Lions averaged 22.65 million viewers for their games in 2024, the highest rating in the NFL. Second place is the Dallas Cowboys, the only other team to have an international drought as long as Detroit.

The international games are at 9:00 am Eastern in the U.S. and don't pull the best ratings, so it looks like the NFL is avoiding wasting their highest-rated teams in the early morning slot.

The Lions' potential refusal to go back overseas for a few years after playing back-to-back, coupled with their extremely high ratings at the moment, explains why the Lions haven't played an international game in a decade.

All this to say, I do expect the Lions to land an international game at some point in the coming years. The 10-year drought can't go on for much longer, and the NFL does put a few popular teams overseas every year so the Lions' time is coming.

With wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown being a German-American, I wouldn't be shocked to see the Lions end up in Berlin in the future.

For now, it's a good thing to avoid the overseas trip; the Lions travel the fourth-least of any team in the NFL next season, and that should help them deal with a difficult schedule.

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