With the NFL concluding its international series on Sunday with the Panthers and Giants in Germany, international expansion in the coming years remains a priority for league executives.
Outside of London, where the NFL has focused its international operations for years, the country receiving the most investment from the NFL is Australia. Sources told CBS Sports that the NFL could hold a regular-season game on the island continent as early as the 2026 season, and the NFL has considered playing the Pro Bowl Games in Australia at some point in the future.
Although the NFL is expanding its international games to eight for the 2025 season, it is believed that Australia (specifically Sydney and Melbourne) will have to wait another year to play a game. The NFL has made visits to both cities as it continues to overcome logistical obstacles.
Despite a larger time difference than any other territory currently explored by the league (Sydney is 16 hours ahead of Eastern Time), the NFL is eager to get to Australia for a regular-season game. Consider the investments the league has made there: In 2022, the NFL named New Zealander Charlotte Offord as general manager of its Australian efforts. In September of this year, the league opened an NFL Academy on Australia’s Gold Coast that will develop student-athletes ages 12 to 18.
The Australian academy is the second international academy to sponsor the league, following the lead of the United Kingdom. An “elite, high-performance NFL Academy facility on existing university land” in Australia will be completed by 2026, the league announced earlier this year.
Australia attracts the NFL for several reasons. There is a vibrant sports scene there and there is no language barrier. It differs from the European expansion the league has undertaken, and no other major American sports league has penetrated the market.
“When you start talking about Asia, the Pacific and Australia, you talk about distance and logistics and the football component of that,” Peter O’Reilly, the NFL’s head of international affairs, said in May. “So those factors are real. But our role is to really look at the world, look at where the fan base is strong and do the diligence, do the evaluations.”
Most Australian-born players in the NFL have been or are specialists, specifically punters. The biggest success (literally and figuratively) has been Eagles offensive tackle Jordan Mailata, a former seventh-round pick who earlier this year became one of the highest-paid offensive linemen in NFL history in terms of average annual salary. The Eagles are one of two teams with international marketing rights in Australia, the Rams being the other. It stands to reason that one or both teams will participate in the eventual regular season game there.
And with Australian football and rugby being the country’s main sports, there is a thought that American football would not be so unknown to Australians.
The NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell have had no qualms about the international push. While an international team (or division of teams) is not being considered, Goodell recently made headlines when he floated the idea of a Super Bowl in London. Since then, sources around the league have said that an international Super Bowl is not legitimately on the league’s agenda.
But the NFL hopes to have a full slate of international games in the coming years. Next year the league may have up to eight international matches and there is a desire to hold 16 international competitions in which all 32 teams play outside the country.
Next year the NFL will play games in London, Spain, Brazil, Germany, Mexico and Ireland. Among cities where the NFL has conducted other site studies include Abu Dhabi, Paris, Barcelona, Rome and Dublin.
There has also been some level of discussion about playing the Pro Bowl Games in Australia at a future date.
The NFL played the Pro Bowl in Hawaii all but two years between 1980 and 2016. Since then, it has traveled to Orlando (2017-2019) and Las Vegas (2022 and 2023) without playing any games in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 19. 19 pandemic. This year’s event will return to Orlando and will be played the week before Super Bowl LIX.
More directly, the NFL reinvented the Pro Bowl two years ago to include skills competitions, and the league turned the game into a flag football contest. The league has been leading flag football for years, and flag football was chosen as an Olympic sport for the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.
It is the first time that American football is part of the Olympic program, but it is what is known as a discretionary event. That means it has no permanent place on the Olympic calendar and can be eliminated, just as breakdancing will not be part of the 2028 Games.
A postseason weekend with the All-Star Game in Australia would also help the NFL’s efforts to expand flag football, specifically in the Olympics. The 2032 Games will be held in Brisbane and the NFL needs a boost to see flag football in a second consecutive Olympics.
And as one source pointed out, because it’s a discretionary event, Australians will probably want to choose events where they can medal. By the 2032 Games, the NFL’s efforts in the country will have completed a decade. American football (and flag football) should be well known in the country by then. And some excitement from watching the world’s best players play flag football in their marquee event years before would probably help.
By the way, it is still unclear whether NFL players will be able to participate in the 2028 Olympics. Sources believe that a decision on this will not be made later this year, although there are hopes that there will be more clarity in 2025.
