MADRID SET TO HOST A REGULAR SEASON GAME IN 2025 AS NFL ADDS SPAIN TO ITS INTERNATIONAL SERIES
The NFL has announced that it will host a game in the Spanish capital, Madrid, in 2025. A fresh new European city for the American game, Madrid is the latest addition to the NFL’s international expansion docket, which boasts an impressive 50 games played internationally.
The news to expand to the Spanish market comes just days after league commissioner Roger Goodell confirmed that the NFL will be going to Brazil to play one regular season game this year. NFL owners had previously voted in the league owners meetings in December to approve the league’s ability to play as many as eight international games per season beginning in 2025, increasing from just four league-operated games.
With Madrid adding to the list of international locations the NFL will play, the league has now visited 6 total international cities including London, Mexico City, Munich, Frankfurt and Sao Paulo. Spain would make it five international countries behind the United Kingdom, Mexico, Germany and Brazil.
The lone game in Spain in 2025 will be played at Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, the home of La Liga giants Real Madrid CF.
“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,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said on Friday. “We are proud to partner with Real Madrid CF, a global brand, and 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.”
The Santiago Bernabéu is one of European soccer’s most impressive stadiums and an overall engineering masterpiece. Only recently renovated, the stadium boasts a fully retractable field that can be stored beneath the stadium with the push of a button.
The underneath storage includes ventilation, air conditioning, irrigation systems, LED lighting, control cameras and ultraviolet light therapy to maintain the standards of a European football field. This would therefore allow the NFL to quickly install a turf field without disturbing the soccer grass below.
“We could not be more excited to bring the best of the NFL, the best of our teams, our star players, to our more than 13 million passionate fans in Spain and to partner with one of the greatest global soccer clubs in Real Madrid,” said NFL Executive Vice President of club business, Peter O’Reilly. “And a truly world class and innovative stadium.”
O’Reilly made it clear that this may not be a one-off situation with Madrid as the league is actively looking for a long-term relationship in Spain, similar to the relationships with London and Munich.
“We have learned a lot over the years,” said O’Reilly. “And I think it’s good news that it’s not seen, by your term, as a logistical nightmare anymore because of the way the teams, team operation folks, our operational team, has been able to deliver not only a great travel team experience, stadium experience, practice facility experience, but have been able to do that again across multiple stadiums in Europe and now South America.”
Speaking about the possibility of the league branching out to the remaining three continents, O’Reilly said: “Nothing imminent in terms of going to Asia or Australia, but that’s something that we continue to consider because there are clearly great stadiums, great partners there. The travel is a factor, and that will be something we continue to look at.”
“But there are real opportunities in real parts of the world that are important to reach with our game, and we will look to continue to do that and explore that operationally.”
The international series has been a huge marketing success for the NFL in recent years, and with the league acquiring more international fans than ever before, it’s expected that a few more cities will be added in the future. While nothing is set in stone, among the cities that are anticipated to join the international calendar in the near future include both the French and Italian capitals, Paris and Rome.
-Maher Abucheri
Twitter: @pabloikonyero
Photo: Dmitry Dzhus. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.