As NFL Eyes Overseas Growth, UK Ambassador Pushes for Super Bowl

The prospect of the NFL holding a Super Bowl in the U.K., while still somewhat theoretical, has gained another notable supporter. 

Peter Mandelson, the British ambassador to the U.S., told the Chicago Council on Global Affairs that he’s making a full-fledged effort to bring the league’s title game to his country.

“I’ve made a big pitch for the first Super Bowl outside the U.S. to take place in Britain,” Mandelson told the council. “I want that Super Bowl in Britain. I don’t care when it takes place, but I want it announced while I’m ambassador. We love it, we love it.”

Long before Mandelson’s latest comments, the NFL had been steadily warming to the idea of bringing the Super Bowl to London. Last fall, in the midst of a series of international games, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said “it wouldn’t surprise me at all if that happens one day.”

London, meanwhile, has actively positioned itself as a center for top-tier global sports events, in keeping with Mandelson’s sentiments, while city mayor Sadiq Khan made a somewhat similar call last year for a Super Bowl there.

Broader Landscape

The next three Super Bowl host locations are set, with California’s Bay Area, Los Angeles, and Atlanta, in that order, set for the upcoming games through 2028. After that, though, the rotation is open, and competition is expected from new, domestic NFL facilities such as the one under construction in Nashville and another forthcoming in Washington. 

Meanwhile, the NFL will play its largest-ever slate of international games in 2025, with seven overseas games, including three more in London, continuing a regular run of events there by the league since 2007 and showcasing the league’s increasing global focus. This season’s international contests are expected to be a forerunner to a full-season slate of non-U.S. games.

Playing a Super Bowl internationally, however, will have additional considerations, particularly around U.S. media and managing logistics across a broader set of time zones. The Super Bowl is the single largest event in American television, and Super Bowl LIX in February drew a domestic-record audience of 127.7 million. 

The game’s traditional start time, around 6:30 p.m ET, is carefully chosen to help maximize viewership across the continental U.S., and keeping that kickoff time would mean an 11:30 p.m. local start in the U.K. As a result, some type of adjustment is likely if the game were to head there.