The NFL Has Made Two Changes To International Game Rules
The NFL is making it very clear that teams are going to have to get used to playing international games whether they like it or not. As the league continues to expand its global footprint, some new changes are coming to future overseas games.
According to reports, the NFL has made two changes to increase both the number of international games and the quality of those games. First, the NFL owners have approved increasing the number of league-run international games from eight to 10 beginning in 2027.
The other is the removal of home game protections from international movement. Ari Meirov explained that teams were previously allowed to lock in two guaranteed home games to avoid having them moved away. But this rule is now gone and the NFL can choose to designate any game it wants to an overseas venue.
Pushback
As you can probably imagine, NFL fans are downright outraged at the idea of seeing some of the biggest rivalry games in the league being played other than an NFL stadium:
"They are ruining the greatest sport on the planet. It's an evil world we live in," one user declared.
"The first time they move a Steelers ravens game at either stadium will be the day the league dies," another wrote.
"Eventually, every NFL team will play one game abroad every season," wrote a third.
"Take a prime rivalry game overseas and fans of those teams will riot."
The NFL has fully saturated the American marketplace. Each Sunday every city block has houses playing NFL games on every electronic device there is. The only direction for them to move in order to keep the line graph moving up is out of the U.S. borders.
But it's not clear what exactly the NFL plans on doing with its international footprint. There have been rumors for what feels like decades that the league would like to put some expansion teams there someday.
How big will the International Series get?
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This story was originally published May 19, 2026 at 1:10 PM.