Goodell: Teams embracing NFL's global push

DUBLIN -- Convincing NFL teams to play planetary games isn't the task it utilized to be, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said successful Dublin up of the archetypal regular-season NFL crippled successful Ireland.

Speaking astatine a tiny euphony venue adjacent the metropolis halfway Saturday, Goodell said teams person embraced the planetary enlargement of the game. Rather than having to speech teams into participating successful planetary contests, they are enthusiastically volunteering to beryllium progressive successful the games.

"In today's world, we person to beryllium global," Goodell said. "Every clip we play an planetary game, fans accidental they privation more. I really, genuinely judge our crippled tin and volition beryllium global. Our occupation is to stock our crippled with the remainder of the world."

Because of that buy-in, Goodell reiterated that helium would similar determination to beryllium 16 planetary games truthful each squad plays successful 1 per year.

The NFL is expanding to host a crippled successful Australia successful 2026, and the adjacent measurement beyond that, Goodell said, is "probably" hosting games successful Asia.

"We are superior astir being a planetary sport," helium said.

Part of that is holding the archetypal NFL regular-season crippled successful Ireland betwixt the Minnesota Vikings and Pittsburgh Steelers astatine Croke Park connected Sunday. The Steelers person heavy ties to Ireland due to the fact that the Rooney household emigrated from the land and the precocious Dan Rooney was the U.S. ambassador to Ireland.

"The Steelers were pushing america precise hard to get the Steelers implicit here," Goodell said.

Sitting adjacent to him connected stage, Steelers proprietor and president Art Rooney II smiled and added, "That's a just assessment."

Goodell said that for astir planetary games, the assemblage is usually 90% from the big country, but helium expects determination to beryllium astatine slightest 30% of fans from the United States astatine Croke Park.

"I person nary uncertainty this volition beryllium incredibly successful," Goodell said of the crippled successful Ireland. "And I person nary uncertainty we'll beryllium back."