The NFL will play the first regular season game in Spain at the Santiago Bernabéu, the home of Real Madrid; watch Super Bowl LVIII from Las Vegas live on Sky Sports on Sunday February 11, with build-up from 10pm ahead of kick-off at 11.30pm
Saturday 10 February 2024 09:21, UK
The NFL has announced it will host a game in Madrid in 2025 as the latest addition to its international expansion.
Real Madrid's Santiago Bernabéu stadium will stage the first regular season game to be played in Spain in yet another sign of the league's commitment to overseas growth.
It comes following the news that the Philadelphia Eagles will host the first regular season game in Brazil at Sao Paulo's Arena Corinthians on the Friday of the 2024 campaign's kick-off weekend.
"Playing a game in Madrid in 2025 highlights the continued expansion of the league's global footprint and the accelerated ambitions to take our game to more fans around the world," said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
"We are proud to partner with Real Madrid, a global brand, together with the City of Madrid and Comunidad de Madrid, to bring a spectacular regular season game to Spain at the world-class Santiago Bernabéu stadium."
Madrid's introduction as a host partner arrives in light of team owners recently voting to increase the number of international games from four to up to eight games a season from 2025, not including the Jacksonville Jaguars' ongoing deal with Wembley Stadium.
The 2024 season will see the NFL play five more regular-season games overseas, with two at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and one at Wembley alongside the league's return to Munich and its debut in Brazil. Madrid will become the fourth European city to host a game behind London, Frankfurt and Munich.
The Miami Dolphins and Chicago Bears both hold international marketing rights in Spain as part of the league's Global Markets Program.
"The National Football League's arrival at the Santiago Bernabéu is a major event in sport history," said Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez.
"This strategic alliance between Real Madrid and an organization of the NFL's prestige will boost our brands globally. It will be enthusiastically welcomed by millions of people on all continents, and it is an honor to embark on this journey together."
Since 2007 the NFL has played 43 games overseas, including 36 in London alongside three in Germany and four in Mexico City, the latter of which did not host a game in 2023 due to renovations at Estadio Azteca.
Starting in 2022, teams are required to host a game outside of the United States at least once every eight years on rotation. Jacksonville's agreement with Wembley Stadium will see them stage a game there each season through 2024.
Dublin has meanwhile emerged as a potential host partner thanks to its deep-rooted relationship with the Pittsburgh Steelers by way of the Rooney Family.
Brett Gosper, the Head of Europe & Asia-Pacific for the National Football League, said taking the game to Madrid will bring in new opportunities across the globe.
"We now go from four compulsory international games organised by the League each year to eight and that'll throw up a lot of possibilities, not just in Europe, but elsewhere in the world," Gosper told Sky Sports News.
"So we're obviously looking to see and review where we can play further games in the future but the direction of travel is a larger international footprint for the NFL, which is very exciting.
"The games are a means to an end, they're not an end in themselves. We play one game in some of these markets but what they create around them in terms of discussions with education systems, governments, cities generate an all-round presence.
"Just one game can do so much but it's what it creates around it which is important."
Sky Sports NFL's Phoebe Schecter said taking the game to new countries helps show that football is for everyone.
"The thing that's so wonderful is every market the NFL goes into, that country finds a way to make the game their own and bring a piece of their culture which is so important," Schecter said.
"We want to be sharing the values and what these countries stand for, it's beautiful to see and football is for everyone."
Watch Super Bowl LVIII from Las Vegas live on Sky Sports on Sunday February 11, with build-up from 10pm ahead of kick-off at 11.30pm; Stream the NFL and more with NOW.
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