Thousands of soccer fans from Scotland - the Tartan Army - have been in the city of Boston in recent weeks to watch their team in the FIFA World Cup. The fans have been such incredible guests to the city that New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft wants to show his appreciation through his football team.
According to Nicole Yang of the Boston Globe via ProFootballTalk, Kraft has spoken to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell expressing interest in having the Patriots play a regular season game in Scotland sometime in the future. Unlike many other countries where the NFL has planted its flag, there are currently no plans to have games in Scotland.
Nevertheless, it's a very interesting idea. Scotland has plenty of soccer stadiums, at least a couple of which can probably be transformed into NFL-ready fields.
Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh would be the most reasonable venue to put it in. It's the largest capacity stadium in Scotland and was previously used by the Scottish Claymores of the now-defunct NFL Europe for a decade.
The NFL International Series
2026 is going to see yet another huge expansion to the NFL's international games calendar. Nine games will be held in seven different countries, including the NFL's first-ever games in Australia and France.
Games will be played in Australia, France, Brazil, Germany, Mexico, Spain and the United Kingdom between September and November. Adding in Ireland, which hosted a game last year but not this year, and that's already eight countries that the NFL has planted its flag in.
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But while the NFL International Series has been hailed by foreign football fans that finally get to see games live, it has often been panned by fans who despise the idea of games being moved beyond the U.S. borders.
As enthusiastic as the people of Scotland might be to have an NFL game grace their soil in the years to come, NFL fans - even the ones in Boston who have been so thrilled to welcome the Scottish fans into their community - will probably push back hard.
But the NFL is determined to expand its international footprint. Striking while the iron is hot is pretty much a guarantee.
