Australia is among the countries the NFL is scouting as a potential host for regular-season games for the 2025 season and beyond.
Peter O’Reilly, the NFL’s chief international officer, said Tuesday at the league’s spring meetings that Australia is among the markets under discussion. The league recently announced that an NFL Academy will open on Australia’s Gold Coast in September.
“Australia is part of a group, and it’s not a small group of markets that we’re looking at,” O’Reilly said.
O’Reilly noted that Australia has a strong NFL fan base and 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 considering as potential hosts. The NFL announced in February before the Super Bowl that the 2025 season’s international slate of games would include a match at Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
The NFL has expanded its international presence in recent years, with owners voting in December to allow the league to host eight international games each season. The league announced the four international matches in London and Germany last week, along with the full 2024 fixture schedule.
The Philadelphia Eagles open the season against the Green Bay Packers in Sao Paulo on September 6.
Dublin is also one of the markets being considered for future NFL matches. League officials will visit markets this summer as part of the process to assess fan support, stadiums and venues that teams can use in the lead-up to a match.
O’Reilly said these details are just part of what the league considers when choosing a host city.
“When you start talking about Asia Pacific and Australia, you start talking 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 world, see where the fan base is strong and do our due diligence, make the assessments.”