NFL eyes Japan regular-season game as global expansion

The National Football League is targeting Japan as the next destination for a regular-season game as part of its aggressive global expansion, Commissioner Roger Goodell confirmed this week. Speaking in New York on July 16, Goodell identified Japan as a priority market and stated the league's intent to move beyond the preseason contests it last held there two decades ago.

"We did have a game in Tokyo, but it was a preseason game," Goodell said. "So we want to do a regular-season game now." He added that he has roughly ten other international markets in mind for future games. The push comes as the NFL prepares for a record nine international contests during the 2026 season, spanning Europe, Australia, South America, and Mexico. The season's international slate will begin on September 10 with a game between the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers in Melbourne, Australia.

League owners have already approved a pathway to increase the number of international games to ten beginning in 2027. Goodell has repeatedly stated a long-term ambition of staging 16 games outside the United States each season, a goal that would likely require an expansion of the regular season to 18 games and...