NFL Has Interest in Playing in Spain, France After Bucs vs. Seahawks Game in Germany

The NFL is targeting Spain and France as potential host countries for future NFL games after expanding its European footprint this season.

While the league has played regular-season games in London since 2007, Sunday's game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Seattle Seahawks in Munich marked the first time the NFL had ever staged a regular-season game in Germany.

Per the Associated Press (h/t ESPN), NFL head of UK and Europe Brett Gosper said Spain and France are now "very much on our radar" in terms of potentially holding games there.

Gosper added: "We need to do our homework to make sure that there is the possibility of a place to land any games in those markets, gauge interest of the host stadia, gauge interest of the host city, even the government, as to their enthusiasm to help us bring a game."

Presently, Spain seems to be ahead of France in the running to host a regular-season NFL game because of multiple factors.

For starters, the Chicago Bears and Miami Dolphins have home marketing rights in Spain, meaning at least part of the Spanish population is already familiar with the NFL and two of its teams.

Also, the NFL has a large Spanish-speaking fanbase and nine teams have marketing rights in Mexico, lending to "a lot of synergies" between Spain and the league, per Gosper.

Gosper noted that over the next six to 12 months, the NFL plans on "testing the viability" of other markets both within and outside of Europe to determine which countries have venues capable of hosting NFL games.

The NFL scheduled three games in London, one in Germany and one in Mexico this year, matching the most regular-season games to be played internationally in a single season.

London games are seemingly here to stay, while the NFL has a four-year agreement to play games in Germany, which could be extended if the experiment is a success.

Germany hosted multiple exhibition games in the 1990s, and now it is trying to prove its viability as a regular-season host city.

Spain also hosted exhibition games in 1993 and 1994, while France has never hosted an NFL game of any kind.

Once the NFL determines whether Spain and France are fit to host NFL regular-season games, Gosper noted that the league plans to look into the possibility of playing in Nordic countries, with Sweden being the likeliest host.