The NFL expects to hold a regular-season game in Tokyo in 2027 or 2028, commissioner Roger Goodell said Friday.
“Listen, Tokyo is obviously on our list, whether it’s next year or the year after that. It’s coming at some point in the near future,” Goodell told NFL Daily.
“We will continue to focus on our priority markets, which were in most of them, but there are other cities; this year we went to Rio (de Janeiro), not Sao Paulo.
Goodell celebrated the power of the NFL by visiting Melbourne, Australia for a Week 1 matchup between the San Francisco 49ers and the rival Los Angeles Rams.
“It was just an incredible feeling for us to have 100,000 people in the stadium at 10:30 a.m. (local time) on Friday morning. I think it opened up new opportunities for us,” Goodell said. “Travel is something we think we can manage and do without negatively impacting the teams. So we’ve learned and benefited from each of these and opened other doors as well.
“We plan to play globally. That’s where we’re going.”
The NFL has played five of its nine international games so far this season.
Goodell was in Paris on Friday ahead of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ game against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.
The league’s second trip to Spain will be in Week 9 when the Cincinnati Bengals take on the Atlanta Falcons in Madrid on November 8.
Next up is Germany, where the New England Patriots will face the Detroit Lions in Week 10 on Nov. 15 in Munich.
The final international bid features the Minnesota Vikings and 49ers in Mexico City on Nov. 22 in Week 11.
The NFL has previously played 14 exhibition games in Japan, the last in 2005 when the Falcons faced the Indianapolis Colts.
– Field Level Media