NFL

NFL will play in Berlin for first time in 2025 as global expansion continues

Berlin is the third international city confirmed to host an NFL game next season, joining London and Madrid.

NBC Universal, Inc.

The NFL has hosted games internationally for almost two decades.

The NFL is continuing its global expansion efforts once again.

Berlin will play host to a regular season game for the first time in 2025, the league announced Wednesday.

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The Berlin game will be played at the Olympic Stadium as part of a multi-year deal after Germany hosted contests in Munich and Frankfurt since 2022.

“Germany has a rich tradition of American football, and the NFL has a deep history with the city of Berlin,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said. “We first held a preseason game at the Olympic Stadium 34 years ago, before it was home to NFL Europe’s Berlin Thunder in the early 2000s. Now, with almost 20 million NFL fans in Germany, we’ll make a historic return to the city playing a regular-season game for the first time as we open the next chapter in our relationship with Berlin.”

The NFL can schedule up to eight international games starting next season, and the list of host cities is growing quickly. There are two games set to be held at London's Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and one game at Madrid's Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. Berlin is the third host and fourth international game confirmed for 2025, with more announcements still to come.

There have been 55 regular season NFL games played outside the United States, mainly in London. Other cities to host games have been the aforementioned Munich and Frankfurt, plus São Paulo, Mexico City and Toronto.

Before this season's game in Munich, Goodell hinted at potential future games in Mexico, Brazil and Ireland.

"As we have previously mentioned, we are going to Spain, and we hope to return to Mexico City and Brazil (São Paulo)," Goodell said on Nov. 10 in Germany. "We will certainly be back in the United Kingdom. We are considering the possibility of playing in Ireland, and we will likely also return here to Germany."

Participating teams and dates for the 2025 international games will be announced in the coming months, the league said.

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