Roger Goodell: Easier to get NFL teams to play internationally

DUBLIN — Convincing NFL teams to play international games isn’t the task it used to be, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in Dublin ahead of the first regular-season NFL game in Ireland.

Speaking at a small music venue near the city center Saturday, Goodell said teams have embraced the global expansion of the game. Rather than having to talk teams into participating in international contests, they are enthusiastically volunteering to be involved in the games.

“In today’s world, we have to be global,” Goodell said. “Every time we play an international game, fans say they want more. I really, truly believe our game can and will be global. Our job is to share our game with the rest of the world.”

Because of that buy-in, Goodell reiterated that he would like there to be 16 international games so each team plays in one per year.

The NFL is expanding to host a game in Australia in 2026, and the next step beyond that, Goodell said, is “probably” hosting games in Asia.

“We are serious about being a global sport,” he said.

Part of that is holding the first NFL regular-season game in Ireland between the Minnesota Vikings and Pittsburgh Steelers at Croke Park on Sunday. The Steelers have deep ties to Ireland because the Rooney family emigrated from the island and the late Dan Rooney was the U.S. ambassador to Ireland.

“The Steelers were pushing us very hard to get the Steelers over here,” Goodell said.

Sitting next to him on stage, Steelers owner and president Art Rooney II smiled and added, “That’s a fair assessment.”

Goodell said that for most international games, the crowd is usually 90% from the host country, but he expects there to be at least 30% of fans from the United States at Croke Park.

“I have no doubt this will be incredibly successful,” Goodell said of the game in Ireland. “And I have no doubt we’ll be back.”