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There's Growing Talk Of The NFL Adding A European Division

Originally posted on The Spun | By Andrew Gould | Last updated Jun 1, 2025 12:10 PM ET

As the NFL continues to play more games overseas, the league could eventually set up permanent residency for multiple franchises outside the United States.

According to Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio, the NFL Players Association expects the league to eventually pursue a four-team European division.

"Per a source with knowledge of the situation, NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell has been actively discussing the pros and cons of putting multiple teams — and more than 200 union jobs — on another continent," Florio wrote.

Flori added that there's "no evidence that a plan is in place" to add any European franchises. Forming a new division across the pond could create numerous logistical challenges.

It's unclear whether all four teams would be expansion franchises, and the league must determine where to place the new division. Adding a four-team division may require significant restructuring to avoid conference imbalances and excessive travel burdens.

Florio proposed moving all West Coast and midwestern teams into the same conference and placing the European division in the other conference. Grouping the European teams together would seem necessary to keep more games within the continent, but Florio believes the NFL is holding a trial of sorts for international travel in 2025.

This fall, the Minnesota Vikings play consecutive games in Dublin and London. Florio labeled the prolonged European excursion "the first effort to evaluate the impact of a multi-week foreign trip on a U.S.-based team," as the NFL would schedule road games accordingly if it were to introduce European franchises.

The NFL is moving from five to seven international games in 2025. The current Collective Bargaining Agreement allows up to 10 per season, but Commissioner Roger Goodell recently predicted that a 16-game international schedule "will happen in the very near future."

In 2022, Goodell said there is "no question" London could support one or two NFL franchises. He stated that the league was interested in establishing a European division.

"That's part of what we're doing," Goodell said. "We're trying to sort of see, could you have multiple locations in Europe where you could have an NFL franchise? Because it would be easier as a division."

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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