The NFL loves to travel. For the first time, a professional american football league match will be played in Ireland, more precisely in the legendary Croke Park stadium in Dublin. The match will take place this year and will involve the Pittsburgh Steelers. The league will add another country to its list of conquests, Australia, in 2026. The Melbourne Cricket Ground will host the match. The match date is not yet known, but the NFL has already announced that the Los Angeles Rams franchise will be involved. “Coming to Melbourne, a beautiful city with a rich sporting history, underlines our ambitions to accelerate our international growth, said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. We look forward to taking another important step in expanding our international footprint.” The NFL would have no less than 6,6 million fans in Australia, and the numbers are sure to increase since the league has signed a multi-year commitment to play regular season games in Melbourne. A partnership which, in the run-up to the Brisbane 2032 Games, could help the flag football to remain on the Olympic programme. Always looking for new markets, the NFL has already relocated 55 games in its history. London, Munich, Frankfurt, Sao Paulo, Mexico City and Toronto have all been host cities. In 2025, american football's elite will cross the Atlantic to play in London, Berlin and Madrid.
