Roger Goodell Addresses NFL International Expansion Team and Paris, Tokyo Future Games

The NFL has made its presence known in international markets with a number of games, but a team outside the United States is still on commissioner Roger Goodell's radar.

He said Sunday it remains "likely" there will be an international NFL franchise, although he did not provide a timeline or location, per NFL reporter Joe Browne.

Goodell also said there was "zero doubt" ahead of Sunday's game between the New Orleans Saints and Pittsburgh Steelers the league would return to Paris for another contest.

In an interview on NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal, Goodell also confirmed plans for a future game in Japan.

"Tokyo is clearly on our list," Goodell said (h/t Megan Armstrong of Awful Announcing). "Whether it's next year or the year after, it's coming at some point in the near future."

International games were a major focus of the 2026 season, as the NFL scheduled a record nine of them in Melbourne (Australia), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), London (U.K.), Paris (France), Madrid (Spain), Munich (Germany) and Mexico City (Mexico).

In fact, the league ushered in the new campaign with the opening game between the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers in Australia.

Sunday's contest between the Saints and the Steelers comes after three straight games in London, two of which featured the Jacksonville Jaguars playing back-to-back against the Philadelphia Eagles and Houston Texans.

▶️ Full Texans-Jaguars Recap

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Next up is a Week 9 game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Atlanta Falcons.

Still, having one-off games, even as many as there are this season, in international markets is much different than having an actual team playing overseas. The travel logistics for that team would be challenging, as it would have to take a long flight for every road game if it was located in Europe. 

A team in Canada or Mexico would mitigate some of those concerns.

Still, Goodell didn't give a location or timeline, suggesting there likely won't be a team based in an international market in the immediate future.

For now, the focus seems to be on the international games and expanding into different markets. The commissioner said the league would be back in Paris, and Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated reported Wednesday that the league could go to Tokyo as soon as 2028 with an eye on other locations as well.

"As for other new frontiers, some teams love the idea of going to Italy next, but that may not happen until new stadiums open in Milan (2030) and Rome (2031), ahead of the 2032 Euros," he wrote. "Then there's the idea the NFL's Peter O'Reilly raised of playing in new cities in countries the league's already been to, like potentially Manchester in the U.K., Barcelona (which has a stadium under renovation) in Spain, or Sydney in Australia."

It's clear the NFL will continue to focus on the international markets, and that could eventually result in a team being based outside of the country.