Paris (France) (AFP) – NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said he believes the sport has a long-term future in France ahead of Sunday’s first regular-season game in the country. The Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints will face off in Paris this weekend as the league continues its international expansion, despite authorities bracing for further demonstrations following riots and street violence across France last weekend.
A record nine NFL games will be played outside the United States this year, with Paris joining Melbourne and Rio de Janeiro as new host cities. Goodell said the French capital was central to the league’s long-term plans and suggested Sunday’s game would be the first of many. “We’re not announcing anything because we always like to get through the first one and the second one before we do. We are not coming here as a one-off,” Goodell told AFP on Friday. “This is part of our efforts long-term to be successful. We’re going to be here and be part of the culture. This is just the beginning.”
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The NFL is seeking to build on the growing popularity of American sports in France, where the NBA has staged several regular-season games in recent years. Victor Wembanyama’s San Antonio Spurs played a pair of games against the Indiana Pacers in Paris last year and are scheduled to return in January 2027. Goodell said France’s sporting culture and Paris’s global appeal made it an attractive market for the NFL. “We have a very strong fan base here that is growing and we want to see it accelerate and continue to grow. The iconic nature of this city is amazing,” he said. “It is one of the international cities that if you’re going to be global, you want to play in and you want to be a part of. We don’t want to just play here. We want to be part of the culture.”
“We believe we should be a global sport. We think we can. Relationships with cities like Paris and markets like France are really important ultimately to our growth,” he added. Goodell ultimately hopes the NFL will have as many as 16 international games per season, with each team playing abroad every year. “We have ambitions to play 16 games (outside the US). We look at it — more than (one game) per week — it’s really having every team participate in an international game in a given year,” he said. “And since we have 32 teams, that works out pretty well having 16 games. And I think that’s ultimately what we’re focused on. We’re at nine now. We’re looking at expanding even beyond that.”
Goodell even suggested a Super Bowl could one day be staged outside the US if the league were to establish a franchise overseas. “Is it possible someday there’ll be an NFL franchise in Paris? Yes, I do. I do think that’s possible. And if that is possible, potentially a Super Bowl is possible too,” he said.
© 2024 AFP
