The NFL will host a regular-season game in Madrid during the 2025 season, the league announced Friday.
NFL owners voted in December to expand the number of international games each year from four to eight starting in 2025. The first of those additional games is set to be held at Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Spain.
“As we all know, this is a global city of culture, entertainment arts and definitely a city with a rich sporting history,” Peter O’Riley, the NFL’s executive vice president of club business, international and league events, said.
“We could not be more excited to bring the best of the best of our teams, our star players to more than 14 million passionate fans in Spain and to partner with one of the greatest global soccer clubs in Real Madrid,” O’Riley added.
The announcement is the latest step in the NFL’s plan to grow the game internationally. On Monday, the NFL announced that the Philadelphia Eagles will open the 2024 regular season in São Paulo, Brazil, at the Corinthians Arena.
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That game will be the first-ever regular-season game in Brazil.
The game in Brazil will mark the fifth continent to feature an NFL game. Additionally, it will be one of five regular-season games to be played internationally in 2024, with three in London and one game in Munich.
In January, the NFL announced the Chicago Bears, Minnesota Vikings and Jacksonville Jaguars would each play games in London, and the Carolina Panthers would host a matchup in Munich.
The league doesn’t have a game scheduled for Mexico City as Estadio Azteca is currently undergoing renovations.
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