The relationship between the NFL and Spain It will last at least one more year. The American football league, the sports competition that moves the most money on the planet, came out delighted from the match that took place at the Bernabéu, the first official match on Spanish soil in history, on November 16, and its return was an inevitable fact. This Monday, the NFL made official the information provided by AS two weeks ago: it will return to the white stadium. For now, it will do so in 2026 and it is expected that, in the absence of official confirmation, also in 2027.signing a multi-year agreement for the first time.
With a video released on social networks and a subsequent institutional photo, the news was confirmed, an open secret since the duel between the Miami Dolphins and Washington Commanders ended with enormous success three months ago. That day, the Bernabéu brought together 78,610 fans from all corners of Spain, Europe and the world, and the Madrid venue dazzled the league. “We will see more NFL games in Spain. We are very happy here”Roger Goodell, commissioner of the NFL, assured AS exclusively minutes before the match. Said and done, one of the greatest sporting spectacles will be back on the Peninsula. “It’s been magnificent. The hospitality, the community, the unity you see…” added a delighted Goodell.
This Monday, in San Francisco, where Super Bowl week begins with the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks playing on Sundaythere will undoubtedly be talk about the renewal between Spain and the NFL. First, Peter O’Reilly, head of the league’s international expansion, will do it at the press conference welcoming the Super Bowl, and later Goodell himself will do it in his usual conference in which he reviews the entire season and the direction of the competition he presides over. Two days later, Rafa De los Santos, director of NFL Spain, will arrive in the Californian city, who will take the opportunity to continue strengthening increasingly stronger ties.
The NFL does not stop growing, and in its project of continuous international expansion It is a proven fact that Spain is a very relevant axis. Madrid joins with this announcement four other cities that are already confirmed as venues for regular season league matches in 2026: Melbourne (Australia), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), London (United Kingdom) twice and Munich (Germany). A year ago, the NFL approved that there can be a maximum of eight foreign games per season (the Jaguars’ game at Wembley is not counted as such), and the places that are strongly rumored to join the list are Paris (France), Mexico City (Mexico) and Dublin (Ireland). Furthermore, from the United States it was pointed out that the league is studying adding two more international matches, and the hope is that there will be a time when there will be 16, so that all the teams can play once outside their borders.
As already happened when the first official game in the history of the NFL in Spain was announced, the mystery that is resolved for the moment is that of the venue, with the Bernabéu consolidating itself as the home of the league in the country despite the push from other venues such as the Metropolitano (the Camp Nou has held talks for the future). Several doubts now remain to be resolved that have not yet been cleared up. The first is the date, which aims to be again in the middle of a national team break in order to ensure full availability of the Bernabéu and attract all the media attention. Then there is the question of which teams will play: those who have one more home game this coming season are the NFC teams, and among them the Chicago Bears emerge as candidates, a franchise that chose Spain in the NFL’s international marketing development plan and that has been present in the country for several years. If AFC teams have to wait until 2027 to be local, the big name that emerges for next year is the Kansas City Chiefs, who have publicly shown their intention to compete in the country. The NFL and Spain, a long-standing relationship that has just been renewed twice.
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