With another expansion of its international series, the NFL is plowing the road for an 18-game schedule
When the NFL tells you what its regular season is going to look like, believe it. That’s the message that should be taken from Tuesday’s installment of the owners’ meetings in Orlando, when another step in the league’s (carefully planned) relentless march into future schedule expansion was established. The latest move was via an amendment that will allow a new maximum of 10 league-run international games each season.
The ceiling was eight prior to Tuesday’s change. Technically, the league’s international series is already at nine games this season, with the Jacksonville Jaguars taking part in back-to-back contests in London during the 2026 season as Everbank Stadium continues $1. 4 billion in renovations.
However, one of those two games was established through the Jaguars choosing to operate as the home team, sacrificing one date in Jacksonville, which allowed for nine international games this season rather than eight. Peter O’Reilly, the NFL’s executive vice president of club business, international and league events, framed the expansion to 10 games as sooner rather than later when meeting with media. “There’s a path to 10 [international games] in 2027,” O’Reilly said.
Find NFL tickets on Gametime | More NFL team schedules One of Yahoo Sports’ 25 game changers to watch in 2025 , O’Reilly has been a power player in stewarding the league’s international strategy. He was even dubbed “the most impactful league employee not named Roger Goodell” by a highly influential NFL team president who spoke with Yahoo Sports about O’Reilly’s place in the NFL. And Tuesday’s vote to expand the international series showcases why, as it acts as another stepping stone to the league’s push toward 18 regular-season games.
The NFL continues to expand its international slate, staging games in places like Berlin and beyond. (Jordan Raza/picture alliance via Getty Images) picture alliance via Getty Images Goodell, the league’s commissioner, along with O’Reilly and the NFL’s heaviest-hitting club owners, continue to lay the groundwork for an annual 16-game international season. The primary goal of that kind of international season would be to create a “33rd” NFL franchise in a foreign-based aggregate, driving an expansion of NFL popularity outside the continental 48 states in North America.
Continue to the original source for the full article.