The NFL has had a busy offseason beyond free agency and the NFL Draft. Commissioner Roger Goodell has continued to push the league’s global expansion through both broadcasting platforms and the International Series. On Tuesday, NFL owners voted to expand the International Series to 10 games in the future.

The league also made a major decision regarding how those games will be scheduled. According to multiple reports, the NFL voted to eliminate teams’ ability to block up to two games from being scheduled internationally. As a result, any matchup on the schedule can now be moved to an international site.

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Of all the changes tied to the International Series, this may be the league’s worst decision yet. We are already seeing divisional games removed from home stadiums and played on neutral fields abroad.

This season, the Los Angeles Rams vs. San Francisco 49ers and Houston Texans vs. Jacksonville Jaguars matchups will take place at international sites. Both games could carry significant playoff implications later in the season. Why would the NFL willingly remove home-field advantage from divisional games that could help decide the standings?

A questionable decision with consequence?

What comes next? Bears-Packers in London? Steelers-Ravens in Japan? Patriots-Bills in Italy? At that point, the NFL might as well do away with divisions altogether. And that only scratches the surface of the issue.

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What happens when marquee matchups such as Bills-Chiefs — games with major playoff implications — are moved overseas? It makes sense for the NFL to want attractive matchups for the International Series, and the league should have some flexibility to make that happen.

However, there is a fine line. By removing the limited protection teams previously had, the NFL risks damaging the long-term integrity of the initiative. There is nothing wrong with hosting games such as Cowboys-Ravens in Brazil or Patriots-Lions in Germany.

But placing more divisional and interconference games at risk of being taken away from home fans — or stripping teams of the ability to keep those games in their own stadiums — creates a much bigger problem.

This may end up being the most puzzling decision the league makes in 2026.

ORLANDO — The NFL’s pursuit of global domination has taken a critical procedural step.

Team owners on Tuesday at the league’s spring meeting approved a plan that will increase the maximum number of league-run international games beginning with the 2027 season from eight to 10. The NFL is all but certain to hit that upper limit next year, particularly given its keen interest in staging more non-U.S. games. 

With the Jaguars’ separate agreement to play part of their home schedule in the U.K., the total number of international games next year could ultimately reach 11, but that would require a supplemental agreement with the NFL Players Association. 

Regardless of how that nets out, the NFL is set to move beyond the league-record nine such contests planned for 2026. As it does so, the league will focus primarily on existing global markets, but also potentially include new ones that the NFL is looking to develop.

“We’re in the process of exploring what ’27 looks like and there’s a path to 10 [international games] in 2027,” said NFL EVP Peter O’Reilly. “There’s some new markets that we’re looking at … parts of the world that we’re also looking at, maybe not 2027 but beyond. Asia would be an example of that. Japan would be an example within that. It’s a market that has complexity, like Australia does this year, from a time-zone perspective, but is an important part of the world for the league.”

All Fair Game

Parallel to that, the NFL also approved Tuesday a rule in which teams can no longer protect any home opponents on its schedule from being designated as international games. Teams previously could protect up to two games each year from being allocated for international play. 

Beyond the league’s worldwide ambitions, that move was made to help give its schedule makers maximum flexibility in developing the overall slate each year.

Elephant in the Room

Like many other parts of league business, the accelerating international push also intersects directly with the league’s desire to ultimately play an 18-game regular season. Team owners such as the Patriots’ Robert Kraft have openly talked about their aim for an 18-game schedule. That enlarged plan would include two bye weeks for each team, and also open up additional inventory to create a 16-game international slate each season in which every team would play globally. 

The NFLPA remains reluctant at best toward the prospect of the expanded regular-season schedule, but the global expansion is one of the foremost underpinnings in management’s push on this topic.

Should some sort of agreement develop there, though, it’s also uncertain whether the NFL would immediately push from 10 international games annually to 16, or pursue a more gradual path.

“That’s all part of the conversation,” O’Reilly said. “We’re evaluating every year, and I can envision any of those scenarios.”

The NFL’s International plans, meanwhile, dovetail with the newly expanded Netflix media rights deal that includes worldwide distribution. 

Full Steam With Flag

The NFL, meanwhile, continues to advance on plans to begin play in a newly formed professional flag football league, operated in conjunction with TMRW Sports. The league and TMRW intend to have the men’s and women’s leagues up and running in 2027.

That pro-level effort runs along with continued development of the sport at the scholastic and amateur levels, including the planned competition at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

“We’re seeing continued momentum across the board surrounding flag,” O’Reilly said.

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