NFL plans to eliminate home game protections for international series
Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports NFL owners voted Tuesday to eliminate teams’ ability to protect home opponents from being scheduled for international games. Until now, teams could shield two home matchups per year from being moved abroad. That number had already been cut down significantly — teams once had the ability to protect four or five home opponents — and the league has been chipping away at it for years.
Now, it’s zero. The NFL is also eliminating teams’ ability to protect games against specific home opponents from being played abroad. Until now, teams could protect two home games each year.
https://t. co/utRnTQaEaA — Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) May 19, 2026 Owners also voted to raise the cap on international games from eight to 10 starting in 2027, per NFL EVP Peter O’Reilly. That cap doesn’t account for the Jaguars’ annual game at Wembley Stadium, which sits outside the standard international series framework under a separate agreement the team has held with the league for years.
Add that in, and the NFL could play as many as 11 games overseas in 2027. NFL EVP Peter O’Reilly announces that owners voted through a measure to increase the cap on international games from eight to 10 in 2027. That doesn’t include the Jags’ game at Wembley, so we could have 11 international games next year.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) May 19, 2026 The protection change is the more consequential of the two. As Mike North explained on a media call last week, teams tend to protect their best opponents, which quickly limits what the league can send overseas. Once Baltimore gets used in one market, it’s off the table for the others.