NFL fans should embrace the international games, because they’re here to stay

PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA - APRIL 24: Former New York Giants player Osi Umenyiora and Commissioner Roger Goodell walk on stage during Round Two of the 2026 NFL Draft at Acrisure Stadium on April 24, 2026 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Lauren Leigh Bacho/Getty Images) | Getty Images Before you know it there is going to be one every week. Things certainly feel this way for the NFL and its international games.

This year there are nine total games taking place outside of the United States, one every week from the season’s beginning through Week 11, save for Weeks 2 and 8. About 20 years ago the thought of the NFL reaching this place felt pretty impossible. There was the occasional NFL international game, but that was it.

It feels like the league is barreling towards a future where there is going to be one of these every week. Traditionally speaking, NFL Sundays begin at 1pm ET and run all the way into the night after the evening game. It would seem that the league has identified that early window as an opportunity to stage a game somewhere across the globe where the time difference allows for it to take place in the window in question.

Whatever the thought process is, more of these games are likely on the way, and it all started in the UK as noted. Former NFLer Osi Umenyiora is someone who has had a heavy hand in this entire process and as a lead delegate for Greater Together LA (the largest-ever UK trade mission to the United States) he recently caught up with SB Nation to discuss the blueprint that the league is taking all over the world. What is Osi Umenyiora's pitch to people who don't necessarily love the NFL's international expansion?