Australia stage, prime-time setup
The NFL's first regular-season game in Australia arrives this week, with San Francisco taking on Los Angeles in Week 1. With kickoff Thursday at 8:35 pm ET, Netflix will carry the Melbourne matchup to a worldwide audience.
Goodell sat down with CNBC in Melbourne ahead of the game and used the moment to talk about where the league is heading next. "Whether it's media, or whether it's labor, or whether it's our international plans or what we're doing with stadiums, all of that [requires] taking a 5-, 10-, 15-year look, and it's critical to do that," he said. "If you're not, you're being irresponsible."
The long view, and the clock on expansion
Earlier this month, Goodell signed a four-year extension that runs through March 2031, his 20th season leading the NFL. That timeline lines up with the current collective bargaining agreement, which also expires in March 2031 and limits international games to 10 per season.
International growth sits alongside other changes during his tenure, like moving to a 17th regular-season game and striking streaming-heavy media rights deals. Goodell's near-term targets: nine games outside the U.S. in 2026 and 10 in 2027. He has previously said he'd like to reach 16, which would require player agreement.
Building fans abroad, not just flying in and out
The NFL has expanded its footprint with recent regular-season games in Germany, France, Brazil and Mexico. Still, turning one-off showcases into lasting fandom is a challenge. Case in point: last year's Week 1 international game, Chiefs vs. Chargers on YouTube, drew 18.5 million domestic viewers and 1.2 million abroad.
Goodell thinks players are on board. "I think they see the opportunity. I get calls, texts from our players during the offseason, and they're all over the world, so I think this generation of players is used to being international," he said.
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"I think they're used to looking at opportunities to continue to grow their brands, and I think it's great for the NFL." Travel still disrupts routines that athletes lean on to stay healthy through 17 games, but the league is designing a broader approach: "You don't want to be at the circus to come in and play a game and leave," Goodell said. "You want to have events and sponsors and media partners. I think we'll continue to modify [the Global Markets Program], but I think it's worked well."
He also expects the league will eventually base a franchise outside the U.S., and said the structure could someday stretch to "a division in Europe, so they're playing against one another. The beauty and the advantage we have is that we're playing once a week." He declined to set a timetable, saying it fits into "a broader plan to continue to develop our business."
Media reach and what to watch for
Growing the audience also means widening distribution. "We're looking at how we continue to grow our media exposure globally," Goodell said. "More and more of our games are on free television and on media partners that are promoting the game, and they're expanding the game, and that's really important to us." Netflix's global rights to Thursday's Melbourne game fit that direction.
For fans, all this points to more games staged overseas, more matchups available on different platforms, and more team marketing in places without long-standing allegiances. If you travel or live abroad, it could get easier to watch your team without hunting for a niche stream. If you're stateside, expect kickoff times to occasionally bend around the globe and for your Sunday to include a bit more passport.
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