Sam Darnold (14 years old) of the Seattle Seahawks plays under center during the New England Patriots game against the New England Patriots on February 8, 2026 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
Jamie Schwabelow | Sports Illustrated | Getty Images
The Super Bowl ended last week, but plans are already being made for the 2026 NFL season.
In the days leading up to the Feb. 8 game, the NFL announced that it would host regular-season games for the first time in Paris, Melbourne and Rio de Janeiro as part of next season’s nine overseas games (two more than in 2025).
“Over the last three or four years, we’ve started to have more opportunities to play outside of the United States, and the last three years have been a real focus. 2025 was that year,” said Peter O’Reilly, the NFL’s executive vice president of international and league events.
NFL International Series
The NFL’s International Series began in its current form in 2007 with the first game in London at Wembley Stadium. For the next five years, London hosted just one game per season, with many owners skeptical about sacrificing revenue from home games in a Premier League-dominated market.
Now, nearly 20 years later, the league is talking about extending the season to allow for more games overseas.
“The possibility of an 18-game schedule requires further work, and it will require coordination and negotiation with the players’ union, but we are certainly looking at opportunities to bring more regular season football and potentially play beyond our current number of international games,” O’Reilly said.
All 32 NFL teams play their regular season games outside the United States and are enrolled in the league’s Global Markets Program.
Launched in January 2022, the program grants clubs international marketing rights to help them increase their brand awareness and explore partnerships and commercial opportunities.
Teams with geographic, cultural, or historical ties to a country are often given rights in those regions. For example, the Arizona Cardinals have rights in neighboring Mexico. The Miami Dolphins are supported by a large Hispanic and Latino community and have rights in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Spain. And the Pittsburgh Steelers, whose owner has ancestral ties to Ireland, acquired Irish rights in 2023.
Ireland, Steelers and Rooney’s connection
The Rooney family, majority owners of the Steelers, trace their roots to their ancestors who immigrated from Ireland in the 1840s and eventually settled in Pittsburgh. Art Rooney founded the team in 1933, and those ties remain strong through philanthropy, cultural ties and politics, including Art’s son Dan Rooney serving as U.S. Ambassador to Ireland in 2009.
Patrick O’Donovan, Ireland’s Minister for Culture, Tourism and Sport, said: “The Looneys and Pittsburgh Steelers are literally coming home and that’s great.”
“One of the first things I did when I became Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport was to agree to the government’s involvement in bringing the NFL to Dublin for the first time. So this is a collaboration between the NFL, the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Gaelic Athletic Association and the Irish Government,” he said.
Hard-armed Xavier Worthy #1 of the Kansas City Chiefs and Alex Highsmith #56 of the Pittsburgh Steelers during the third quarter at Acrizier Stadium on December 25, 2024 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Joe Sargent Getty Images Sports | Getty Images
The Irish government sees a valuable opportunity to leverage the Rooney family’s ties to the Steelers. As part of the deal, officials pledged to inject 10 million euros ($11.9 million) in public funds. Half of the money will go to the NFL for licensing fees, and the other half will go toward transportation, security and venue arrangements.
However, the country’s tourism development authority, Fáilte Ireland, said the event brought in an estimated €64 million in additional economic activity.
TV’s big win
The Dublin match was also a huge TV ratings success. The game ranked as NFL Network’s second most-watched international game on record, drawing 7.9 million viewers in the United States. This is a 68% increase over the average for 2024 international matches.
“The economics of the game itself are less important. Obviously, these games are profitable, but we look at it as a pebble falling. When you drop a pebble, it ripples far beyond the game itself,” O’Reilly said.
As the NFL’s international ambitions grow, so do the ambitions of other major sports leagues. The NBA has held multiple regular-season games outside the United States, and in 2025, several official soccer games were held outside of local markets. More matches could follow if economic returns remain strong.
