The NFL’s international series has focused in recent years on building a presence in London. But that’s not the only foreign country in which the league is willing to ignore that “N” is for “National.”
Via Albert Breer of NFL Media, the league is considering the staging of regular-season games in Mexico and Germany, in addition to the recent suggestion that the 2017 Pro Bowl could be played in Brazil and ongoing efforts to play in Canada and China.
“The work we’re doing now is to ask, ‘How do we accelerate the agenda in Mexico, Canada and China?’” NFL executive V.P. of international Mark Waller told Breer. “Those would be our next stage, and we have offices in those three countries. And then, after those, where should be our focus? I think we’ve concluded that Brazil and Germany are the next two frontier markets, which is where the Pro Bowl idea comes from.”
Ten years ago, more than 103,000 fans showed up for a Cardinals-49ers game in Mexico City, but the league has not yet played another game there. Security concerns often have been cited as one of the reasons for no sequel, yet.
If the league decides to play games that count while playing three games per year (and possibly more) in London, the league will need more teams to give up home games. Apart from the fairly new rule that teams hosting a Super Bowl must give up a home game, Breer points out that teams relocating to a new market must sacrifice one home game per year while playing in a temporary venue pending the construction of their new stadium.
This could give the NFL up to two extra exportable games per year for several seasons, if two teams move to L.A. in 2016.