The NFL has now been playing regular-season games abroad since 2007. The first such game took place in London, which has hosted more NFL games than any other international city. It’s long been rumored that if the NFL were to expand beyond the United States, it would be London that got the first crack at it.
According to brothers Jason and Travis Kelce, it may not be all that long before we see the league do just that. During a “no dumb question” segment on their New Heights podcast, the Kelces were asked whether or not they’d be willing to play for a team in London.
“F–k yes,” Jason said. “Unquestionably.”
Travis, meanwhile, said that the only way he’d play for the Chiefs is if he got the opportunity to play internationally. “I’m waiting to play for another team other than the Chiefs,” Travis said. “That’s the only situation, is if I get to play abroad.” (Jason clarified by making sure that his younger brother meant if the situation were that his home team was abroad, and Travis confirmed.)
Then they got to the topic of when we might actually see such a team debut, and had the following exchange:
Jason: How long do you think it’ll be before there’s an NFL team in London?
Travis: Less than 10 years.
Jason: You think within the decade?
Travis: I don’t know for a fact it’s gonna be London.
Jason: If there’s an NFL team, the first city it’s coming to is gonna be London. I’ll go on record for that.
Travis: I mean it’s where we’ve been playing for the most overseas, yeah.
Jason: There’s the most amount of fans [in London]. It’s a major market. The only other cities that would also be in, I know Germany has a lot of NFL fans. So there would probably be a German team in, I assume, Munich or Berlin. But I think London’s getting the first one — if it ever happens.
It doesn’t sound like they’re working with much inside information here, but there has been so much discussion about an NFL team in London that it does feel like only a matter of time. It would make sense to have another team in Europe if London does indeed get a team, but the NFL has also been venturing into Mexico City in recent years with games at Estadio Azteca, so perhaps teams in Mexico and/or Canada could be a first step toward expanding internationally, with European cities following after.
