A day after confirming a multi-year hosting deal with Madrid, Spain, to stage international games, American football’s elite NFL has announced a similar deal with Mexico that will see regular-season fixtures return to the capital through 2028.
Mexico City's 87,523-capacity Estadio Azteca (known as the Estadio Banorte for sponsorship reasons) will stage games in the 2026, 2027, and 2028 campaigns as part of the new three-year hosting deal.
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Mexico was the NFL’s second international market after the UK, hosting the first of its four international games in 2016, and the most recent fixture in 2022.
With the establishment of this hosting agreement, the NFL has also announced the extension of its long-running broadcast partnership with Mexican TV giant TelevisaUnivision, which has covered the league for the past 60 years, meaning the Canal 5 and Canal 9 linear channels will continue to feature NFL action.
Ten NFL teams currently hold marketing rights for the Mexico territory through the league’s Global Markets Program; these teams are: the Arizona Cardinals, Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos, Houston Texans, Kansas City Chiefs, Las Vegas Raiders, Los Angeles Rams, Miami Dolphins, Pittsburgh Steelers, and San Francisco 49ers.
The league has also confirmed that a game will be staged in Paris, France, in 2026, with the New Orleans Saints franchise as one of the two competing franchises.
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By GlobalDataParis’ 80,000-capacity Stade de France will host the game, in partnership with operator GL Events, the French Department of Sports, Youth and Community Life, the Fédération Française de Football Américain (FFFA), and local and regional government stakeholders Plaine Commune, Ville de Saint Denis, Ville de Paris, Métropole du Grand Paris, and Région Ile de France.
The Stade de France is the country’s biggest stadium by capacity, and already hosts high-profile soccer and rugby matches for France’s national teams in those respective sports, and it also served as the centerpiece for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The Saints are the sole holders of marketing rights for the French market (including Monaco), and in 2025 sent a player-led delegation to activate in the country.
The New Orleans Saints franchise, including team president Dennis Lauscha, has long pushed for a game in the country, with team owner Gayle Benson stating: “This moment is special not only because of the strong cultural connection between Louisiana and France, but also because we will compete before a growing Saints fan base in Paris."
The NFL held seven international games in the 2025 campaign across five cities, and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has been open about his ambition to have as many as 16 international fixtures each season.
Goodell’s dream of 16 international games, with each team playing abroad once per year, is likely to have to wait until the league’s collective bargaining agreement (CBA) expires in 2031 and a new model is negotiated, but in maximizing the number of new markets the league visits before then, he is laying the groundwork for greater expansion later down the line.
Currently, the CBA limits international games to a maximum of 10 per season, with nine confirmed so far: three in London (UK), one in Melbourne (Australia), one in Munich (Germany), and one in Rio De Janeiro (Brazil), one in Madrid (Spain), and now one in Mexico City (Mexico), and Paris (France).
The only 2025 game host not returning for 2026 is Dublin, Ireland, which hosted its first-ever NFL game on September 28 when the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Minnesota Vikings 24 to 21 in front of 74,512 fans.
Speaking to the press, Goodell confirmed that Dublin would not host a game in 2026, but left the door open for the league to return to the country in the future.
“The absolute answer is we will be back,” he said. “I would guess that we’ll be back in a few years. We’ve got to work with the officials on that when that happens. I would expect that to happen, and that’s our intention.
