NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Could Australia possibly host an NFL regular-season game?

By Michael Gallagher | Last updated 5/22/24

With regular-season games being played in Brazil in 2024 and Spain in 2025, it’s clear the NFL is going all in on growing its global footprint.

Head of international affairs Peter O’Reilly confirmed Tuesday at the league meetings in Nashville that Australia is among several countries in the running to host regular-season games as early as next season.

“Australia is among a set, and it’s not a small set of markets, that we’re looking at,” O’Reilly said, via Teresa Walker of the Associated Press. “…When you start to talk about Asia, Pacific and Australia, you talk about distance and logistics and the football component of that. So, those factors are real. But our role is to really look at the globe, look at where the fan base is strong and do the diligence, make the evaluations.”

The Philadelphia Eagles and Los Angeles Rams have global markets in Australia, and the league believes it has a strong enough fan base and media coverage to be a viable host location for NFL games.

Dublin, Ireland has also been discussed as a potential future host country as well.

NFL’s 2024 International Schedule: pic.twitter.com/2Bdu6lV0ep
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 15, 2024

The NFL’s international series has pulled in strong numbers, so much so that the league is pushing hard to increase the number of overseas games with the owners recently approving an eight-game international schedule each year.

The 2024 season will feature three games in London along with one in Brazil and one in Germany.

Since the inception of the NFL’s international series in 2007, there have been 44 games played overseas, including 36 in London, five in Mexico City and three in Germany.

In total, the league has played more than 50 international regular-season games, counting the six played at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Canada from 2008 to 2013.

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