MELBOURNE, Australia — NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said Thursday that the league’s work is to reach an 18-game regular season before it looks for its next stage of growth.
A permanent team based outside the United States is probably still several years away, Goodell said during Netflix’s broadcast from the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
“Our ambition here is to make it a global sport,” Goodell said. “The NFL deserves to be and it’s a great game. We all believe in it passionately. I think our work here is to get to [18] regular-season games, then we’ll be looking for the next stage to grow.”
The San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams opened the season at the MCG in the NFL’s first regular-season game in Australia. It is the first of a record nine games the league will play outside the U.S. this season, and kickoff was set for 7:35 p.m. CT on Netflix.
Roger Goodell And The 18-Game Regular Season
The league expanded from 16 regular-season games to 17 in 2021 under the collective bargaining agreement completed in 2020. That agreement runs through the 2030 season. It states that the league and clubs “shall not increase the number of regular season games per Club to eighteen (18) or more games.”
Player safety, competitive issues, the potential need for another bye week, and roster sizes all have to be addressed through collective bargaining, Goodell said Feb. 2 at his annual news conference ahead of the Super Bowl.
“We have not had any formal discussions about it and, frankly, very little, if any, informal conversations,” Goodell said “I’ve heard people talk about it in the context. It is not a given that we will do that. It’s not something we assume will happen. It’s something we want to talk about with the union leadership.”
Owners completed a four-year contract extension with Goodell on Sept. 6. It runs through the 2030 league season and ends March 31, 2031, the AP reported. His previous deal would have expired in March 2027.
New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft chairs the compensation committee that negotiated the extension. Kraft wrote to owners that the committee worked with an independent third-party compensation consultant and outside counsel on the deal.
“We believe we are very fortunate to have Roger at the helm for the next four years,” Kraft wrote.
Roger Goodell On An NFL Team Outside the United States
Last month, Goodell told German outlet RTL/ntv that he has no doubt there will eventually be NFL teams based outside the U.S., NFL.com reported. Goodell, 67, has been commissioner since 2006.
In May, owners passed a resolution allowing the league to increase to 10 international games beyond the 2026 season. Goodell has said the league’s goal is 16.
This season’s nine games are spread across Melbourne, Rio de Janeiro, London, Paris, Madrid, Munich, and Mexico City. L
