New International Sites for Games

[NorthHawk]

PFT has an article about the NFL looking at sites in Brazil and Spain and an announcement could be soon.

Here is the article for those that don't want to go to that site:

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Roger Goodell: New international location could be added by 2024
By Mike Florio
Published October 7, 2023 10:17 AM

As the NFL gets ready for a second straight Sunday in London, the league could soon be expanding to yet another country.

Via the Associated Press, Commissioner Roger Goodell said at a fan forum on Saturday that the league could put a game in a new international location “as soon as next year.”

“We actually have three or four markets that are here this weekend and next weekend that are interested in hosting a game,” Goodell said.

Spain and Brazil have been recently identified as possibilities. Germany joined the parade of nations last year. The NFL also has played regular-season games in Mexico and Canada.

It’s part of a broader effort to take an inventory of games that have saturated the American consciousness and get thousands if not millions of others in other countries consuming the content with, in time, the same degree of zeal and passion.

And it makes sense for the league to play more neutral-site games. There’s currently an imbalance in the schedule, with 17 games. Ideally, every team will play eight traditional home games, eight traditional road games, and one neutral-site game. In a league that is otherwise obsessed with competitive balance, the fact that some teams get nine true home games definitely impacts that effort to smooth out any and all advantages.

It makes sense with a 17 game schedule and each team having 1 neutral site game, but a lot more travel. I would hope they would add an extra bye week at some point so players can properly recover.

[RiverDog]

Here's another article that talks about the possibility of a game in Madrid, Spain:

The publication cites two sources close to the planning who have declared that a Madrid game is all but confirmed.

Two locations are thought to be under consideration for the Madrid game, with either Real Madrid’s home stadium, the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, or the Estadio Metropolitano, home to Atletico Madrid, to host the event. The Bernabeu has a capacity of 83,168 and a hybrid grass field while the Metropolitano can seat 70,460 fans and has a natural grass field.

https://www.totalprosports.com/nfl/nfl- ... drid-2024/

I'm a huge proponent of the international series. Having traveled to our London game in 2018, it was a fantastic experience, one that I'm anxious to repeat in another country. And I don't think that they necessarily have to work in a 2nd bye. Mexico and Canada shouldn't require any special scheduling exceptions, and if they play in South America, although the miles traveled will still be significant, there won't be a 6 or 7-hour time change like there is when teams play in Germany.

There's lots of other cities that I could see being in the mix: Tokyo, Sydney, Cape Town, Buenos Aires, Rome, and if they ever get the political situation squared away, Moscow and Bejing.

And I don't think it necessarily requires a 2nd bye week. They certainly wouldn't need it for a game in Canada or Mexico, and a game in South America, although it's a long ways to travel, it wouldn't have a 6-7 hour time change.

[Aseahawkfan]

RD wants to combine his love of travel and football together as often as possible.

[RiverDog]

RD wants to combine his love of travel and football together as often as possible.

You've got that right!