The National Football League is charting an ambitious course beyond its traditional borders, aiming to embed itself in new markets across the globe.
The International Game Plan
For the 2026 season the league has slated nine international contests, with France and Australia joining the roster of destinations that have already hosted regular‑season games in Mexico, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Canada, Ireland, Germany, and Spain.
Scotland, despite never having staged an NFL fixture, has seen a surge of enthusiasm, exemplified by the thousands of Scottish supporters who traveled to Boston for the recent World Cup group‑stage matches and the two games the league held at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough in June.
New England Patriots chairman Robert Kraft has publicly expressed interest in bringing a Patriots game to Scotland, a notion that gains traction as the team is already slated to open its overseas campaign in Munich, Germany, next year.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell envisions a future where the regular season stretches to sixteen overseas dates, a goal that would cement the league’s global identity while deepening ties with fan bases that span continents.