October 2, 2005 marked a significant milestone in NFL history when the first regular season game was held outside the United States at the Azteca Stadium, where the Arizona Cardinals and the San Francisco 49ers faced each other, marking the beginning of a new phase in the league’s internationalization.
Although the NFL had been playing international exhibition games since 1926, it wasn’t until 80 years later that it began playing regular-season games outside the United States. This Friday, with the Green Bay Packers’ game against the Philadelphia Eagles in São Paulo, Brazil, the NFL will visit its fifth country for regular-season games, joining Mexico, Canada, Great Britain and Germany.
To date, the NFL has played 54 regular-season games overseas, with the United Kingdom hosting the most games (39, all in London). Canada has hosted six games (all in Toronto), Mexico has hosted five (in Mexico City), and Germany has hosted four (two in Frankfurt and two in Munich). The game in Brazil also marks the first time the NFL has come to South America.
The NFL has highlighted the importance of Brazil as a key market, with more than 38 million fans, making it the second-largest international market for the NFL after Mexico.
Philadelphia has only played one regular-season game outside the United States, on October 28, 2018 at Wembley, London, where they beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 24-18. In contrast, Green Bay lost its only international game, on October 9, 2022 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, by a score of 27-22 to the New York Giants.
I like this:
Charging…
