The NFL owners voted on Wednesday to extend the league’s International Series through the 2025 season and also gave the NFL permission to schedule games outside of the United Kingdom starting in 2016. One location expected to host future games is Mexico City.
NFL extends International Series through 2025
Estadio Azteca will play host to another NFL game after league owners approved an extension of the NFL International Series.
Miguel Tovar/Getty Images
“This marks an important step in our long-term international growth,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said. “Fans in the UK have responded incredibly well to the regular season games we have played in London since 2007. They have demanded more NFL games, and we have worked to accommodate them. We think it’s time to expand our International Series to other countries and respond to the growing interest in our game not only in the UK, but elsewhere around the world.”
Although Mexico City hasn’t yet been announced as a host, the Pittsburgh Steelers are close to finalizing a deal to play a game in Mexico, according to AS.com. 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 International Series.
In 2005, the first regular season game outside of the United States was played at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City between the Arizona Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers. Two years later, the NFL officially introduced the International Series with games annually played at Wembley Stadium in London.
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 international games happening for at least another decade.
After six seasons with only one game in Wembley Stadium per season, the NFL upped to two games in 2013 and three games in 2014 and 2015. In 2012, the Jacksonville Jaguars agreed to a deal that placed one home game per year in London through 2016 and gave the team exclusive marketing rights in the United Kingdom.
The NFL’s continued growth in London was originally seen by many executives as a long-term project that could eventually land an NFL franchise in the city, full-time. One executive told Albert Breer of NFL.com that having a team based in London by 2022 is the target date.
“It’s a realistic time frame,” NFL Executive Vice President for International Mark Waller said Wednesday. “But there are still things we need to test for, so we have to be able to build a lot of things into the next few years. We don’t need to prove as much on the fan-demand side. We feel comfortable that, in a few years, we’ll be where we need to be there. The real focus is doing things to keep testing. We’re really focusing on the logistical and operational side.”
While Mexico City is expected to host an NFL game, the extension opens the possibility that countries like Brazil or Germany could play host to one in the near future.
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