The National Football League is no longer just an American pastime; it is a global export. This week, the league office confirmed a record-breaking nine-game international schedule for the 2026 season, marking the most aggressive expansion of the "International Series" in its history. From the first-ever regular-season game in Paris to a historic landing in Melbourne, Australia, the 2026 slate represents a fundamental shift in how the league views its calendar, its teams, and its eventual 18-week future.
The 2026 International Roadmap
The 2026 season will see the NFL plant flags across four continents and seven countries. The headline addition is the league’s debut in France, with the New Orleans Saints designated to play at the iconic Stade de France in Paris. This move is complemented by a return to Mexico City’s newly renovated Estadio Banorte, ending a four-year hiatus in the NFL’s largest international fan market.
The full 2026 international lineup includes:
London, UK: Three games (two at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, one at Wembley Stadium).
Paris, France: One game at Stade de France (featuring the New Orleans Saints).
Madrid, Spain: One game at the Santiago Bernabéu.
Mexico City, Mexico: One game at Estadio Banorte.
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: One game at Maracanã Stadium.
Munich, Germany: One game at Allianz Arena.
Melbourne, Australia: One game at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (featuring the Los Angeles Rams).
This expansion follows a 2025 season that proved the appetite for American football abroad is at an all-time high. According to league data, the 2025 international slate on NFL Network averaged 6.2 million viewers (TV and digital) across six games—a staggering 32% increase over the previous year. The game in Madrid alone peaked at over 8 million viewers. With attendance figures for international games consistently hitting 100% capacity, the NFL is moving from a "testing" phase to a "scaling" phase.
The Global Markets Program: Why Paris? Why Melbourne?
To the casual observer, the selection of teams for specific cities might seem random. However, through the lens of the Global Markets Program (GMP), the logic becomes clear. Launched in 2022, the GMP grants teams exclusive marketing and commercial rights in specific foreign territories. The NFL uses these "home market" designations to ensure that when a team travels abroad, they are landing in a region where they have already spent years building a brand and securing local sponsorships.
The New Orleans Saints being sent to Paris is a textbook example of this strategy. The Saints hold GMP rights in France, leveraging the deep cultural and historical ties between Louisiana and the French Republic. Similarly, the Los Angeles Rams were an obvious choice for the Melbourne debut; the Rams are one of only four teams with marketing rights in Australia and have been the most active in building "fan intelligence" profiles in the Oceanic region.
By pairing teams with their GMP territories, the NFL ensures that these games aren't just one-off exhibitions. They are the culmination of year-round marketing efforts, youth flag football initiatives, and localized content distribution. For the league, the GMP is the "identity graph" that turns a foreign city into a secondary home for a franchise.
The 18-Week Vision: The Path to 16 Games
While nine games in 2026 is certainly a record, it’s merely a stepping stone. Commissioner Roger Goodell and several influential owners, including the Patriots' Robert Kraft, have begun socializing the idea of a 16-game international schedule. This "International Round" would effectively see every team in the league play one game abroad every single year.
The structural catalyst for this move is the expansion to an 18-week regular season. Under the current proposal being discussed in league circles, the NFL would move to an "18-and-2" format: 18 regular-season games and just two preseason games. This would allow the league to mandate one international game for all 32 clubs.
The strategic brilliance of this 18-week model lies in the scheduling of the final stretch. By expanding the season, the NFL can dedicate the first 16 weeks to a mix of domestic and international play, while reserving Weeks 17 and 18 as purely domestic windows. This ensures that the high-stakes "playoff push" and divisional tie-breakers happen on home turf, preserving the competitive integrity and local atmosphere of the season’s climax while still reaping the massive commercial rewards of a global footprint.
Risks and the "Identity" of the Game
Of course, this aggressive expansion is not without friction. The NFL Players Association (NFLPA) has expressed ongoing concerns regarding the physical toll of long-haul travel. A flight from Los Angeles to Melbourne is roughly 16 hours, a distance that tests the limits of player recovery and "body clock" management. To mitigate this, an 18-game season would almost certainly require a second bye week for every team, a concession the league seems willing to make in exchange for the projected revenue growth.
From a business perspective, the goal is clear: the NFL wants to be a 365-day global media property. By establishing multi-year deals in Madrid, Mexico City, and Rio, the league is moving away from the "novelty" of international games and toward a permanent global infrastructure.
As we look toward 2026 for the NFL internationally, the stadiums are full, the viewership is record-breaking, and the map is expanding. The question is no longer if the NFL will become a global league, but how quickly it can finalize the 18-week calendar to make the "Global Round" a permanent fixture of the American football season.