There’s been no shortage of controversy in recent years over the NFL’s insistence on expanding its international series to more games in more markets. But could that expansion culminate in moving the Super Bowl itself out of the U.S. borders?
In an interview with Front Office Sports, NFL chief media officer Hans Schroeder was asked that very question. Schroeder said that while the league is currently happy with its rotation for Super Bowl hosting honors and believes there are still plenty of new locations in the U.S. where they can host it that haven’t yet, he wouldn’t rule out a future Super Bowl beyond the 50 states.
“That feels a little bit far to me but that’s not my call at the end of the day,” Schroeder said. “Just look and think about some of the awesome rotations of Super Bowls that we already have coming up, with the venues and the locations… I think there’s a lot of runway here in the U.S. Maybe (an international Super Bowl) is the right step to take at some point but for me it feels like there’s so many awesome opportunities in the U.S. markets that deliver such an unbelievable experience for that game that feels like the runway that’s right ahead of us,” Schroeder said.
That response certainly makes it seem like an international Super Bowl isn’t exactly on the NFL’s calendar for the foreseeable future. As it stands, the NFL has its Super Bowl host venues locked in through 2030, and the next few after that will probably go to some of the other cities that are constructing new stadiums over the next few years.
What does the future hold?
But the NFL is making very steady inroads into more and more markets across the world. And there’s no shortage of stadiums in other countries that can rival the capacity and magnificence of some of the best that the 32 teams have to offer.
© Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
The NFL hasn’t exactly explained what their end goal is with all of their international games. We don’t know if they hope to build a new foreign development league like the defunct NFL Europe, uncover new talent pools or simply entice greater foreign investment.
One thing that we do know is that the NFL has plenty of patience. The international series has been around for nearly 20 years and has grown bigger and bigger since the first foreign games were played in London exclusively.
If the league finds a good enough reason to host a Super Bowl outside of the U.S., there’s every reason to believe they’ll jump on it.
