NFL to play first regular-season game in France with Saints in Paris this year

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The NFL will play its first regular-season game ever in France next season with the New Orleans Saints set to travel to Paris later this year and the league will also head back to Mexico City for the first time since 2022.

The league on Monday announced the plans to play a game at the Stade de France next season in addition to a multiyear deal to keep playing regular-season games at Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, and a game to be played in Mexico City in December.

“It’s the ambition we have to be a global sport,” Commissioner Roger Goodell said at his Super Bowl news conference. “But it’s also the demand we’re having. We’re hearing from cities that want to host these games and really want to get more American football.”

The NFL has already announced its first game in Australia next season with the Los Angeles Rams set to host that game, as well as games in Rio de Janeiro, Munich, and three in London. The league will have nine international games next season and Goodell said it will eventually have 16 international games a year so each team plays one.

“That's an important mark to shoot for and I think we’re on our way.” Goodell said.

The additions of Australia and France will mean NFL games will have been played in nine countries outside of the United States after next season.

The NFL says it has played 62 regular-season games outside the U.S. so far, with London, Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt, Madrid, Dublin, Sao Paulo, Mexico City and Toronto as hosts.

The Saints will play an opponent to be determined after the schedule is finalized later this year. The Saints have international marketing rights in France as part of the NFL’s Global Markets Program.

Saints owner Gayle Benson said she is excited to play in France, citing the “strong cultural connection between Louisiana and France.”

The Stade de France was built in 1998 when the country hosted the World Cup. It was also used for the 2024 Olympics and has hosted several major international sporting events.

The NFL says it has more than 14 million fans in France and launched a flag football program there in 2023 that already reaches more than 8,000 boys and girls.

The NFL did not announce any of the teams for the game in Spain. The Miami Dolphins, Kansas City Chiefs and Chicago Bears currently have marketing rights in Spain as part of the league’s Global Markets Program.

The first NFL regular-season game in Spain was played at the Bernabeu last November as the Dolphins defeated the Washington Commanders 16-13 in overtime before a crowd of 78,610 fans.

NFL Spain country manager Rafa De Los Santos said the multiyear agreement to playing games in Madrid “underlines our commitment to the market and enables us to continue to engage fans year-round and invest long-term in initiatives like NFL Flag and youth participation.”

The NFL said Spain is “an important market globally,” with 11 million fans. It said it will also focus on developing the league’s flag football initiatives across the country.

After the first game in Madrid last year, there had also been talks of the league also trying to organize a game in Barcelona at some point.

The NFL has played five games in Mexico City but hasn't been back since 2022 while the stadium has undergone renovations for this summer's World Cup.

“We’re heading back to Mexico City in December, which I think is wonderful for our fans in Mexico,” Goodell said. “They’re redoing the stadium for the World Cup. This will be a chance for us to get back there this December. We can’t wait for that either.”

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AP Sports Writer Talez Azzoni in Madrid, contributed to this report

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