Australia among future NFL hosting options

Peter O'Reilly, the NFL's head of international affairs, said Tuesday (Wednesday AEST) at the league's spring meetings that Australia is among the markets being discussed. The league recently announced an NFL Academy will open in September on the Gold Coast.

"Australia is among a set, and it's not a small set of markets, that we're looking at," O'Reilly said.

O'Reilly noted Australia has a strong NFL fan base, media partners and that both the Philadelphia Eagles and Los Angeles Rams have global market rights there.

He updated NFL owners on the countries league officials are looking at as potential hosts. The NFL announced in February before the Super Bowl that the 2025 season's international slate of games will feature a game at Real Madrid's iconic Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

The NFL has been expanding its international presence in recent years with owners voting in December to authorise the league to host eight games internationally each season. The league announced last week the four international games in London and Germany along with all of the 2024 schedule.

Philadelphia open the season by hosting the Green Bay Packers in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on September 6.

Dublin, Ireland, also is among the markets being considered for future NFL games. League officials will be visiting markets this summer as part of the process assessing fan support, stadiums and locations for teams to use leading up to a game.

O'Reilly said those details are only part of what the league considers in picking a host city.

"When you start to talk about Asia, Pacific and Australia, you talk about distance and logistics and the football component of that," O'Reilly said. "So those factors are real. But our role is to really look at the globe, look at where the fan base is strong and do the diligence, make the evaluations."

Australian Associated Press