Roger Goodell Teases Un-American Idea Of Playing A Super Bowl Outside Of The United States

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The NFL has long been exporting the game overseas, and now commissioner Roger Goodell appears to be laying down the groundwork for playing a future Super Bowl outside the United States.

There have been over 50 regular-season international games in the NFL, and while that number reflects the league's optimism when it comes to growing the game overseas, hosting the Super Bowl on the international stage is a completely different animal. London has hosted the most international games with more than 35 games while Frankfurt, Germany was introduced to the rotation for the first time this season.

The Super Bowl is unquestionably the most American sporting event there is, yet Goodell isn't opposed to moving the big game outside of the country.

"We’ve always traditionally tried to play a Super Bowl in an NFL city — that was always sort of a reward for the cities that have NFL franchises," Goodell said in response to a question about moving the neutral-site game internationally. "But things change. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if that happens one day."

Roger Goodell isn't opposed to playing a Super Bowl overseas on the international stage. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Goodell has outlined a plan that could include playing 16 games across the pond every year during the regular season if another game is added to the schedule, which would expand the regular season to 18 games.

With the Super Bowl host cities already booked through 2027, it would appear that 2028 could be - emphasis on could be - the first time we could see the game moved outside the U.S.

Goodell certainly didn't come out and say 'the NFL will host a Super Bowl internationally in the coming years," but his note about how "things change" and that it would be a "surprise" to him certainly feels like more than nothing.

The NFL is king, and if the league sees the international stage as something it wants to conquer, well moving a Super Bowl overseas would certainly do the trick. 

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.