NFL Cools on Super Bowl Abroad As Vikings-Steelers in Ireland Looms

As fervor rises further around the notion of a Super Bowl held outside the U.S., the NFL is pumping the brakes somewhat on the idea. 

The league will resume its record-setting slate of international games Sunday with a game at Dublin’s Croke Park between the Vikings and Steelers, marking the NFL’s first regular-season game in Ireland. While detailing that matchup, NFL EVP of club business Peter O’Reilly said an international Super Bowl is not imminent. 

“We’re clearly focused on the near term with Super Bowls in the U.S., given the great demand on the great impact of those Super Bowls in the U.S.,” O’Reilly said in a teleconference. 

The next three Super Bowls are set, respectively, for the Bay Area, Los Angeles, and Atlanta. Las Vegas, the 2024 host, is actively negotiating with the NFL for a return in 2029. Beyond that, the forthcoming wave of new stadium development across the league will impact decisions for the early 2030s, and officials in Washington, D.C., are already eyeing a Super Bowl there after finalizing funding last week for a forthcoming Commanders stadium. 

Discussion around an international Super Bowl, however, rose again last month when Peter Mandelson, then the U.K. ambassador to the U.S., said at a conference in Chicago that he was developing a full-fledged effort to bring the game to London. Those comments advanced upon those made last year by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who said, “It wouldn’t surprise me if that happens one day,” as well as similar enthusiasm from London Mayor Sadiq Khan. 

Since then, though, Mandelson has been fired from his political post amid revelations of his connections to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The NFL, meanwhile, is continuing a broad-based effort to develop fandom around the world, particularly through its Global Markets Program. It also does not have immediate plans to bring other tentpole events, such as the NFL Draft and Pro Bowl Games, to international markets. 

“I think we explore all of those things,” O’Reilly said. “There’s nothing imminent in terms of an international event for one of those right now. But we look at all of that.”

Irish Factors

The Dublin game is the second of seven scheduled international games this year, following the Week 1 game in Brazil between the Chiefs and Chargers that generated plenty of controversy regarding viewership on YouTube. After the matchup in Ireland, games will be held in London in each of the subsequent three weeks, followed by a Nov. 9 game in Berlin between the Falcons and Colts, and one on Nov. 16 in Madrid between the Commanders and Dolphins. 

Initial ticket purchasing patterns for the Dublin game have shown a higher proportion of U.S. fans compared to other NFL international games, with roughly a third of purchases coming from Ireland, a third from the U.S., and a third from elsewhere in Europe. The Steelers, however, have particularly strong roots in Ireland, in part through the Irish heritage of the team’s Rooney ownership family, and the late Dan Rooney’s former U.S. ambassadorship in the country.