By Rory Carroll
(Reuters) – The NFL is looking to hold eight international games next season including a possible first foray into Ireland, commissioner Roger Goodell said on Sunday, as the league’s push to expand its footprint outside the U.S. shows no signs of letting up.
The NFL held the last of its five international matchups on Sunday – a Carolina Panthers 20-17 overtime win over the New York Giants in Munich – and has previously said it would host a game in Madrid in 2025 at the iconic Santiago Bernabeu stadium.
“We are definitely going to Spain, we announced that,” Goodell told NFL Network in Munich on Sunday.
“We expect to return to Mexico City. We expect to return to Brazil. We will certainly be back in the U.K. And we’re also looking at the potential of another game in the U.K. area – in Ireland, possibly,” he said.
“That’s a possibility. And we’ll certainly be back here in Germany. So if that total is eight, that’s what we’re shooting for.”
Goodell on Saturday said the NFL is working to hold a game in Berlin next season after playing this year’s matchup at the home of German soccer club Bayern Munich.
The NFL made its South American debut with a game at Corinthians Arena in Sao Paulo during Week One in September.
Despite its aggressive approach to raising its profile around the world, the league last month said it has no near-term plans to hold its biggest annual event, the Super Bowl, outside the U.S.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles; Editing by Toby Davis)
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