A resolution passed at the owners’ meetings Wednesday will extend NFL’s global slate of games through the 2025 season.
Advertisement
The 2016 schedule of global regular season games will be announced later this fall.
“This marks an important step in our-long-term global growth”, Commissioner Roger Goodell said.
To date, 12 global series games have been held at Wembley in London, the most recent of which taking place last Sunday as the New York Jets beat the Miami Dolphins 27-14.
Before the 2010 game, the Broncos played seven preseason American Bowl games overseas, including games in Berlin, London, Mexico City, Barcelona, Sydney and two in Tokyo.
The early success of the series convinced the NFL’s owners to approve an extension in 2011 and now again with another extension in 2015 that will keep global games happening for at least another decade.
An estimated 13 million people in the United Kingdom comprise the league’s global fanbase. “We could’ve played four this year”. The Steelers played a game at Wembley Stadium in 2013 and owner Dan Rooney, the former United States ambassador to Ireland, has pushed for the global Series.
Regular-season worldwide games began in 2007 at Wembley. So get ready for more games in other countries.
“The work we’re doing now is to ask, ‘How do we accelerate the agenda in Mexico, Canada and China?'” the National Football League executive said back in March.
Dallas Cowboys COO Stephen Jones said, per Don Banks of Sports Illustrated, Dallas is interested in playing a game in Mexico, but their biggest issue is losing a home game. “That’s our goal. We’ll definitely continue the United Kingdom focus”.
Advertisement
The league also is looking at moving the Pro Bowl to worldwide sites, with Brazil having expressed an interest, while Australia and Asia are also potential sites. We don’t need to prove as much on the fan-demand side.
