Early years (2007–2012) The
Miami Dolphins hosted the
New York Giants in the first International Series game at
Wembley Stadium in London, England, on October 28, 2007. The Giants defeated the Dolphins 13–10 in the first regular season NFL game held outside North America. The first 40,000 tickets sold out for the game in the first 90 minutes of sales. The game was aired regionally on
Fox. A single game was held in London each year through 2012. Like the 2007 game, each was televised nationally in the United Kingdom, but only regionally in the United States. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers' game against the Chicago Bears at Wembley in 2011 suffered from reduced ticket sales compared to previous years, with an attendance of just under 77,000 compared to around 84,000 the previous two years; this was blamed on the
2011 NFL lockout, which resulted in tickets going on sale much later than in previous years. On October 11, 2011, the NFL owners approved playing NFL games in the United Kingdom through 2016. This stated that a home team could visit every year for up to five years but visitors could only visit once every five years; however, the Detroit Lions returned to London as visitors in 2015 in an apparent disregard for this rule.
Multi-year deals and multi-game years (2013–2015) On January 20, 2012, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell confirmed that from 2012 to 2014, the
St. Louis Rams would play one of their eight home games each year at Wembley Stadium. However, on August 13, 2012, the team announced that it would not play the proposed games in London in
2013 and
2014, only the
2012 game against the
New England Patriots that had already been scheduled. Goodell had previously proposed the use of certain regular teams in the International Series in an effort to build a fan base for those teams, raising the prospect of a permanent NFL team on the British Isles. An NFL bid to become anchor tenants of London's
Olympic Stadium failed. The Jacksonville Jaguars took the Rams' place and agreed to play a home game in London for four seasons from 2013 through 2016. With this announcement also came news that the NFL was working to schedule a second UK game from 2013 onwards (the Jaguars later extended their agreement with Wembley Stadium through 2020 in an agreement announced in October 2015). Additionally, on October 7, 2015, the league announced that a resolution had been passed to schedule international games at additional locations to London until 2025. Subsequently, on October 22, 2015, it was confirmed that at least two games per season would remain at Wembley through at least 2020 and that the Jacksonville Jaguars will continue to play a home game there annually throughout the agreement. Another stadium deal was confirmed on November 3, 2015, when the league announced it had reached an agreement with England's
Rugby Football Union to host regular season games at
Twickenham Stadium from 2016 onwards, with a minimum of three, and as many as five, games to be held over the initial agreement period of three years. In 2016, the
Oakland Raiders hosted the
Houston Texans on November 21 at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, at the first International Series game played in Mexico. Previously, the
Houston Texans and Pittsburgh Steelers had expressed interest in playing a game at Estadio Azteca (or possibly
Estadio Olímpico Universitario) in Mexico City, although Houston was not prepared to give up a home date. It was televised as part of ESPN's
Monday Night Football, marking the first
MNF game broadcast from outside the United States, and ESPN's second broadcast from Mexico City since the 2005
Fútbol Americano game (which was televised as part of ESPN's
former incarnation of Sunday Night Football). The 2016 game between the
Washington Redskins and
Cincinnati Bengals was the first International Series game to go into overtime, the first to end as a tie, and had at the time the highest attendance of all International Series games (later surpassed by the 2017 game between the
Baltimore Ravens and
Jacksonville Jaguars, which drew an attendance of 84,592). For 2017, the series scheduled four games in London and one game in Mexico City. In January 2018, it was announced that three games would be played in London that year, with two at Wembley and the other the first game at Tottenham Hotspur's new stadium. However, it was later confirmed that the opening of Tottenham Hotspur Stadium would be delayed and therefore all three games would be held at Wembley. Having already fulfilled the minimum three-game requirement for Twickenham Stadium in 2017, the league would no longer host games there. The Mexico City date and opponents were not announced at that time, but were later confirmed as the Los Angeles Rams playing as designated home team against the Kansas City Chiefs. The game was subsequently moved to the Rams' then-home stadium,
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, due to player safety concerns regarding the poor field conditions at
Estadio Azteca. The
ensuing game would also attract notoriety as the third-highest scoring game in NFL history, and the highest-scoring game in
Monday Night Football history. In October 2018, the league confirmed four London Games would take place in 2019. Wembley Stadium would host two and Tottenham Hotspur Stadium would host the remaining two. The Jacksonville Jaguars would return to Wembley Stadium for the seventh consecutive year in line with their annual commitment. The final schedule was announced in April 2019 alongside that of the rest of the regular season. This marked the end of the Los Angeles Chargers', Los Angeles Rams', and Oakland Raiders' annual commitments, with all three moving to new stadiums in 2020. In November 2019, the
Atlanta Falcons and Miami Dolphins were announced as home teams for 2020 games in either London or Mexico City. On February 4, 2020, it was announced that the Jaguars would play two home games at Wembley Stadium on consecutive weekends in 2020, the first time a team had done so. 2020 would also have been the final year of games at Wembley Stadium and the final year of the Jaguars' agreement to host annual home games there. On February 28, 2020, it was announced that the
Arizona Cardinals would host a game in Mexico City. Their hosting was due to the awarding of
Super Bowl LVII to
State Farm Stadium in 2018. The Cardinals would have returned to Estadio Azteca for the first time since 2005's Fútbol Americano game. The date and opponent were not announced at the time. On May 4, 2020, the league announced that all international games for had been moved back to the designated home teams' home stadiums due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. On April 1, 2021, the Atlanta Falcons announced their intention to play a home game at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in October 2021. On May 11, it was reported that the Falcons and Jaguars would each host a game at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. This was confirmed the following day. This would mark the Jaguars' eighth home game in London but their first at Tottenham.
International marketing and expansion (2022–present) and the
Philadelphia Eagles, on September 6, 2024, at
Neo Química Arena in
Sāo Paulo, Brazil. In December 2021 the NFL announced the International Home Marketing Areas (HMA) initiative, under which teams can submit proposals to be granted marketing rights for specific foreign countries for a period of five years. This allows them to engage in activities typically restricted to their domestic HMA such as hosting in-person events, selling sponsorships and merchandise, as well as having a high priority to be assigned to play in the International Series games scheduled for their International HMAs. Initially 18 teams were granted marketing rights across eight countries, starting in January 2022. In May 2022, two more countries were added to the list of international HMA. In 2023, the league added
Austria,
Switzerland,
France, and
Ireland. In 2024, the league expanded the program to
Argentina,
Colombia,
Japan,
Nigeria, and
South Korea. In 2025, the league expanded the program to
Greece and the
United Arab Emirates. In 2026, the league expanded the program to
Italy. As of March 2026, all 32 teams have been granted rights across 22 International HMA, as listed below. On February 9, 2022, the NFL confirmed the addition of the Germany Games to the International Series slate, initially with one game each year from 2022 to 2025. Mark Waller had previously stated in 2017 that the only holdup with games in Germany was what he dubbed "an inventory management thing," in that with four games already being played in London each year, adding additional games in Germany atop those four would pose logistical problems. In October 2021, it was confirmed that
Düsseldorf,
Frankfurt, and
Munich had been invited to participate in deeper conversations about hosting NFL games. In March 2022, the Jaguars confirmed they had reached an agreement with Wembley Stadium to host an annual game through 2024. In the following season, the Jaguars became the first team to play two games in London in one season. On October 1, they hosted the
Atlanta Falcons at Wembley Stadium and then the following week on October 8 as the designated visiting team against the
Buffalo Bills at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium; they won both games. In November 2023, the NFL said it would again have five international games for the 2024 season. Three would be in London (one of those the Jaguars' regular home game in Wembley), one would be in Munich, and the last one would be in a new market, either
Madrid, Spain, or
São Paulo, Brazil. The league would not expand the number of international games beyond the five it already had (the four rotational home teams and the Jaguars) until the 2025 season at the earliest. In December 2023, with the announcement of São Paulo as the third venue of the 2024 international slate, it was confirmed that the league planned to host eight international games in 2025. The first new venue for 2025 was announced as
Real Madrid's Bernabéu in Madrid. In December 2024, the NFL announced that the
Olympiastadion in
Berlin, Germany, will also host a game in 2025. The Indianapolis Colts were named as the designated home team for the Berlin game on January 15, 2025. Two days later, the Miami Dolphins were revealed as the designated home team for the inaugural Madrid Game at the Bernabéu. On February 5, 2025, the NFL announced that the first regular season game in
Australia would be played in 2026, as the Los Angeles Rams were named the designated home team to play at the
Melbourne Cricket Ground in
Melbourne, Australia. On February 19, 2025, the NFL announced it would return to Brazil for another game at
Arena Corinthians in São Paulo for Week 1 of the 2025 season, with the Los Angeles Chargers named the designated home team. In September 2025, the NFL announced that the 2026 Brazil game would be played at
Maracanã Stadium in
Rio de Janeiro. The league then announced in December 2025 that games in Germany would continue through 2029, with Munich hosting in 2026 and 2028, and Berlin hosting in 2027 and 2029. In January 2026,
New England Patriots owner
Robert Kraft theorized that the NFL would expand to an 18-game regular season and have every NFL team play in the NFL International Series at least once per season. In February 2026, the NFL announced that the first regular season game in
France would be played later that year, as the
New Orleans Saints were named as one of the participants to play at
Stade de France in
Paris, France. as well as a multi-year return to Mexico City following the completion of renovations at
Estadio Banorte. ==Results==