Munich’s breathtaking Allianz Arena plays host on Sunday, November 10 to the New York Giants versus the Carolina Panthers in the final game of the 2024 NFL International Series [Image: Shutterstock.com]

Series finale in Munich

The NFL heads to Germany this weekend for the final leg of this season’s International Series when the New York Giants meet the Carolina Panthers in Munich.

electric atmosphere is guaranteed

The Bavarian capital is a fitting venue for the 2024 finale as it epitomizes the huge and ongoing success of this series. On Sunday, an electric atmosphere is guaranteed in a sold-out Allianz Arena, and the Munich air will be filled with rousing renditions of such classics as John Denver’s, “Take Me Home, Country Roads”

At 9:30am ET on Sunday, Munich will be the place to be. But it’s a massive success that has been 15 years in the making.

It all began with a single game at Wembley Stadium, London, England on October 28, 2007, when the Miami Dolphins hosted the New York Giants. It was the first NFL regular season game ever held outside North America and, for the record, ended in a 13-10 win for the Giants.

Wembley was NFL’s first overseas home

The demand was there – the NFL bug had already bitten the UK – and when the first 40,000 tickets for the game sold out within 90 minutes of them going on sale, it became clear this was no gamble. It was a surefire hit. Wembley was an 81,000-seat sellout that day and it changed the NFL landscape forever.

For the five seasons that followed, Wembley Stadium continued to host one game each season, which was televised live to the whole of the UK and regionally in the US. Ten different teams made the trip to London during that period, with the New England Patriots and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers doing so twice.

Its success in terms of numbers and engagement was undimmed and only once in that period did the attendance dip just below 80,000. As a result, the NFL decided to expand its London operation and in 2013 there were three Wembley games and in 2014 and 2015 four.    

In 2016, there were still three London games but Twickenham – a southwest London stadium that is home of England’s Rugby Union team – was also added to the schedule to host one game.

Further down the line, in 2019, Twickenham was replaced by another London venue: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the new home of the North London soccer club. And in 2024, this venue still shares the “London series” with Wembley.   

Mexico City on the schedule

The success of the London games encouraged the NFL to look further afield and in 2016 a Mexico game was added to the schedule. The iconic Aztec Stadium in Mexico was chosen to host the game, which opened with a matchup between the then-Oakland Raiders and Houston Texans.

The fixture was played four times between 2016 and 2022, with a scheduled game between the Kansas City Chiefs and L.A. Rams in 2018 moved to L.A. due to the playing surface not being up to NFL standards.

There has been no Mexico game in 2023 and 2023 because of ongoing refurbishments to Aztec Stadium ahead of the 2026 Soccer World Cup, but it is expected to rejoin the schedule in 2025 when renovations will have been completed.

one of the best atmospheres experienced in an overseas NFL contest

In 2022, following the continued success of the overseas program, Germany was added to the schedule with the Buccaneers hosting the Seattle Seahawks in Munich. It took off, with reportedly one of the best atmospheres experienced in an overseas NFL contest. In 2023, two games were played in Germany, both at Frankfurt’s Deutsche Bank Park.

This season, South America was the latest continent to be added to the schedule, when the Arena Corinthians in São Paulo, Brazil hosted the Green Bay Packers and the Philadelphia Eagles in Week One.

NFL places trust in Brazil

Interestingly, it was just the second game of the new season and was held on Friday evening and therefore shown on primetime television – an act of faith by the NFL that paid off handsomely.

So successful was the NFL’s venture into Brazil, that there has been talk of it becoming an annual event on the Friday night of week one.

As mentioned at the beginning of this piece, this weekend’s game in Munich signals the end of 2024’s International Series but there is more to come in 2025 when Spain enters the fray.

Madrid is scheduled to host a game at the newly refurbished Santiago Bernabéu Stadium which, much like the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, has a retractable pitch specifically for NFL games. With a capacity of 85,000 and an NFL-mad Spanish audience, the atmosphere is expected to rival those in Munich and Frankfurt.

How about North America?

Given the success of the games in Mexico City and São Paulo, the next obvious area of expansion is in the Americas. Starting back in 2008, the Buffalo Bills played one game per season in Toronto’s Rogers Centre, an arrangement called the “Toronto Series” that lasted through 2013, so there is certainly scope for the NFL to head north of the border. 

With Canada jointly hosting the 2026 Soccer World Cup with the US and Mexico, the NFL may see that as a good time to revisit the idea of football being played there. Their revamped stadiums, as a result of the World Cup, will be perfect for hosting NFL games.

may host more than one game further down the line

Mexico, the USA’s other direct neighbor, is already in the mix for a 2025 game once the Aztec Stadium refurbishment has been completed. The proximity and the size of the crowd that can be attracted south of the border make it an attractive venue and one that may host more than one game further down the line.

Even further down the line, Argentina and Uruguay may be potential homes for International Series matches. The ability of soccer stadiums to easily adapt to the needs of the NFL is already well established and with Argentina and Uruguay being two of the six hosts of the 2030 World Cup, the potential is definitely there.

Where next in Europe?

With Madrid already in the schedule for 2025, it’s clear there is an appetite in Europe for more NFL, and nowhere is more ready for some NFL action than Ireland.

Since 1988, Ireland has hosted a series of American College Football games – nine in total – which started at the old Lansdowne Road Stadium, went briefly to Croke Park, and has most recently been played at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium.

While the Dublin game has not been a regular part of the NCAA schedule, it has been played for the last three years, always to full stadiums. And with the obvious links between Ireland and many cities on the East Coast, there is no question that an NFL fixture there would be a huge success.  

France is another European country with a big NFL following, and for some time, French authorities and fans have been doing their best to lobby the NFL. The Stade de France, which hosted the 2024 Summer Olympics, would be a perfect venue and would guarantee a crackling atmosphere.

Australia and Asia next in line?

With the NFL having established roots in South America and Europe, the big question is what other continents could be in consideration for future NFL expansion.

The most obvious one is Australia, and in particular Melbourne, whose east coast location would help reduce the time difference for live broadcasts. The L.A. Rams are already reported to have laid the groundwork for establishing an Australian fan base, and Melbourne’s cricket ground, the famous MCG, would make a perfect theater for NFL action.

the infrastructure and appetite to manage an NFL game

In Asia, another market that the NFL will almost certainly look to explore in the future, Japan looks the most likely destination. Tokyo is home to several very big stadiums and would unquestionably have the infrastructure and appetite to manage an NFL game. It would also have an existing NFL fanbase.

I guess that, also, the Middle East has to come into the equation, given the money that countries like Qatar and Saudi Arabia have been throwing at sports recently. Questionable human rights laws count for very little when the money is right, so it’s inconceivable that these countries won’t, at some stage, fancy a piece of the pie.   

Madrid up next in 2025 … then the world

Then it leaves Africa, a continent that has started to provide quite a few NFL players. South Africa is home to some of the continent’s biggest stadiums and would have the infrastructure already in place, but in the northern part of Africa, in countries like Morocco, there will be a keen interest to attract the NFL.

All of the above feels some way off as things stand – aside from the Madrid game, which is already planned – but such is the success of the International Series, expansion is inevitable. There is also still talk of a London franchise becoming a reality, although that appears to currently be on the backburner.

For now, it is left to the Bavarians of Munich to enjoy the last game of the 2024 series and enjoy it they will.

But watch this space. One day, the NFL could be coming to a stadium near you.