Two weeks ago, the three games for the tenth NFL International Series in 2016 were announced, with one of them – the week seven meeting between an NFC East team ‘at’ the St. Louis Rams – taking place at Twickenham Stadium, the home of another football code. This makes it the first International Series game to be held outside Wembley Stadium (which incidentally will host a week four match-up between the Indianapolis Colts and the Jacksonville Jaguars and a week seven tilt between the Washington Redskins and the Cincinnati Bengals).
While more venues is always a positive, we’re yet to see a regular season game being held outside the English capital. This is understandable given the NFL’s clear indication that they want to establish a strong enough foothold in the UK to bring a coveted franchise to London. But it would be nice for commissioner Roger Goodell to spread the love to other parts of Great Britain and Europe.
However, an extra game could be added to next year’s overseas schedule which may be outside of the UK. With that in mind, let’s take a look at some possible, non-British European countries which could host future NFL games and give the players, coaches, owners and fans a chance to visit different countries as well.
Possible NFL International Series Venues Outside the UK
Republic of Ireland
Given its similarities to the United Kingdom, this could be an ideal place to host NFL matches in the not-too-distant future. The most obvious venue would be the GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association) owned Croke Park in Dublin and even though there has been controversy in the past about non-Gaelic games taking place there (Football, Rugby Union), it did host a pre-season American Bowl game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Chicago Bears so it has (admittedly small) pedigree on that front. The Aviva Stadium is another possible venue even though it’s a bit small by NFL standards.
Germany
Of all the countries in Europe, this could be the biggest money-maker for Goodell and company outside of the UK. Why? Well, five of the six teams taking part in the final NFL Europe season in 2007 were based in Germany and the German Football League (formerly the American Football Bundesliga) has taken place since 1979 so the sport is likely to have an established following in this part of the world. Possible venues include the Olympiastadion in Berlin (which hosted four American Bowl games between 1991 and 1994), Munich’s Allianz Arena and Dortmund’s Signal Iduna Park.
The Netherlands
The only other country to still have an NFL Europe franchise by the time of the league’s demise in the form of the Amsterdam Admirals (who once had former NFL MVP Kurt Warner and kicker Adam Vinatieri on their books) so there could be something to work with here. The Amsterdam Arena (the Admirals’ former home and current home of AFC Ajax) is the blindingly obvious choice to host games if the NFL decides to go Dutch.
Spain
American Football does have a bit of history in Spain (in Catalonia at least) with former NFL Europe franchise the Barcelona Dragons, who were in existence between 1991 and 2003. If the NFL wants to gain maximum profit from their overseas ventures, where better to go than the largest stadium in Europe, the 99,354-seat Camp Nou, which coincidentally is only a Hail Mary Pass away from the former home of the Dragons, the Mini Estadi. Other potential venues include the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid.
Other potential NFL destinations: France (Stade de France, Stade Velodrome) Italy (San Siro, Stadio Olimpico), Portugal (Estadio Da Luz), Belgium (King Baudouin Stadium, Russia (Luzhniki Stadium).
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