NFL commissioner says regular-season game in Tokyo is planned for 2027 or 2028
Commissioner Roger Goodell announced that the league aims to hold a regular-season game in Tokyo within the next two seasons, adding to its growing schedule of international matchups.
The National Football League is targeting a regular-season contest in Tokyo, with commissioner Roger Goodell indicating the league hopes to stage the game in either 2027 or 2028. Goodell told the "NFL Daily" podcast that Tokyo is on the league’s list and that a game will happen "at some point in the near future."
Goodell’s remarks follow earlier comments from NFL executive vice president Peter O'Reilly, who said the league has been researching a return to Japan. The NFL previously held 14 preseason games in the country between 1976 and 2005, most of them in Tokyo.
The league cited the successful Week 1 matchup between the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams in Melbourne as a learning experience for staging overseas games. "On a Friday morning at 10:30, to have 100,000 people in the stadium, it was just an incredible feeling for us," Goodell said, adding that the league believes travel logistics can be managed without harming the teams.
If a Tokyo game materializes, the Los Angeles Rams are likely candidates, as the franchise holds marketing rights in Japan under the NFL’s Global Markets Program. The league is also working toward expanding its international slate, with owners approving a proposal to schedule up to ten games outside the United States in 2027, alongside existing fixtures in Berlin, Mexico City and London.