On Sunday, the NFL played an NFL game in London for the third straight week and the league could have bigger plans for London.
NFL Commissioner Roger Godell told reporters (via Adam Schefter) that the league has discussed the idea of having a Super Bowl but it probably won’t happen in the near future because, according to Goodell, the NFL wants to play Super Bowls in cities where NFL teams reside and London doesn’t have an NFL franchise. At least not yet.
“I think that is not out of the question,” Goodell added. “But at the end of the day, I think right now our formula will stay the same about playing [Super Bowls] in cities that have franchises.”
The next three Super Bowls are scheduled o be played at Allegiant Stadium (Las Vegas) in February 2024, Caesars Superdome (New Orleans) in February 2025 and Levi’s Stadium (Santa Clara) in February 2026.
Schefter adds that there has been “no momentum building yet” for a London Super Bowl, but a league source told him last week that it “absolutely would make sense.”
If there were to have a London Super Bowl, the game have to be at night in London — 8:30 p.m. local time, which would mean the game would kickoff at 3:30 p.m. ET and 12:30 p.m. on the West Coast. Kickoff times for the three London games this season have been 9:30 a.m. ET, 2:30 p.m. local time.
The NFL will play five games in Europe this season including three in London, England and two in Frankfurt, Germany. They are also preparing to play future international games in Spain and Brazil, according to NFL executive VP Peter O’Reilly.
O’Reilly also has said the NFL also is studying the possibility of playing a regular-season game in Australia, although the logistics of a game there would be more challenging.
