England receives Super Bowl boost after hint from NFL chief

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has hinted that the Super Bowl could be hosted outside of the U.S. for the first time in the near future, as the league eyes further expansion abroad

NFL bigwig Roger Goodell has admitted he "wouldn't be surprised" if the Super Bowl is played outside the US for the first time, with London in the running to host the iconic event.

The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, which has already hosted 10 NFL regular season games including the Chicago Bears' win over the Jacksonville Jaguars this weekend, would no doubt welcome the event. The stadium, boasting a 62,850 capacity, was designed with NFL games in mind. Currently, at least four NFL games are played internationally each year, but plans are afoot to double that number soon.

Goodell even suggested that the league might aim for 16 international games per season eventually. While this year's Super Bowl will light up New Orleans' Caesars Superdome, and future events are planned for San Francisco's Levi's Stadium in 2026 and Los Angeles' SoFi Stadium in 2027, the end of the decade could see the Super Bowl touchdown on foreign soil.

Speaking as the NFL returned to London, Goodell remarked: "We've always traditionally tried to play a Super Bowl in an NFL city - that was always sort of a reward for the cities that have NFL franchises. But things change. It wouldn't surprise me at all if that happens one day."

Regarding a possible rise in international games, he disclosed that teams may play one overseas match each in the future. This could happen if the regular season expands to 18 games, with the preseason shortened to two games, reports the Mirror US.

"If we expand our regular season from 17 games to 18, and reduce the preseason from three to two, I could see us at the same time saying 'every team will play an international game every year. If we do expand our season to an 18-and-two structure, I see us going to 16 of those games being in international markets."

Goodell also hinted at introducing a second bye week, stating: "A lot of that depends on - can we continue to make the game safer, can we continue to modify the way we conduct the offseason as well as the training camp and as well as the season, so that these guys feel comfortable being able to play that period of time."

With regular season games set to take place in foreign locations including Madrid from 2025, the commissioner acknowledged that the next host location could be Ireland.