The Stade de France will host its first NFL game featuring the New Orleans Saints and the Pittsburgh Steelers on October 25, bringing an American-style football spectacle to Paris complete with an extended playing field, a 53-player active roster per side, and an expanded coaching staff, latribune.fr reported.
An Extended Pitch and XXL Staffs Transform the Stade de France
To accommodate professional American football in Paris, ground crews lengthened the Stade de France playing surface and painted the rugby try zones in the team colors of the New Orleans Saints and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Each franchise brings a 53-player roster and a massive coaching and support staff to the venue, replicating the logistics of an NFL Sunday in the United States. The 14:30 local start time will feature pre-game ceremonies highlighted by both the United States national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner,” and the French national anthem, “La Marseillaise.”
Burna Boy Headlines a Mini-Super Bowl Halftime Show
Burna Boy will headline the halftime concert as part of an effort to stage a “mini-Super Bowl” in the Parisian venue. Television coverage will broadcast live on France 2 and beIN Sports, which has served as the league’s broadcaster in France since 2012.
France Emerges as a Priority Market for the NFL
The matchup counts as one of the 17 regular-season games on the league schedule, but it carries immense symbolic weight for the organization’s global expansion strategy. The NFL generated $23 billion in revenue in 2025. Brett Gosper, the league’s head of Europe and Asia-Pacific, identified France as a priority market for future growth. According to league figures cited by Gosper, 12 million people in France express interest in the sport, with 1.5 million classified as dedicated fans. The league aims to expand those figures while capitalizing on France as a major sports broadcasting rights market.
More on Stade de France
NFL Schedule News 🇫🇷The Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints will face off in the inaugural NFL Paris Game at the Stade de France, per sources.The first-ever NFL game in France is set for October 25th – Week 7, with kickoff at 9:30 AM EST. pic.twitter.com/M8JTkJtTpI
