Let’s start by saying that football is loved by Americans. It is one of the favorite pastimes of Uncle Sam. While other nations have interesting deals, that doesn’t stop the best of the best from putting the other countries into their place.
With that in mind, you may be surprised, baffled even, to find out that there are NFL games that are played outside the United States. How can that be? After all, the NFL stands for National Football League. However, there are people outside the nation that understand how great this sport truly is. Here are a few games played outside the US.
IFAF World Cup
IFAF stands for the International Federation of American Football, and 71 nations compete in their world cup. It was founded back in 1999, but the US didn’t throw its hat into the ring until 2007. Since then, they have been the defending champions of the cup. Other countries that can boast about their accomplishments are Japan and Mexico, the latter of which never won the cup, but still managed to remain in the spotlight.
London NFL Games
We can expect great things from the Chargers, the Raiders, and the Jaguars in 2019. Why? Well, they are going to be playing in the London NFL Games. London games are a part of the NFL International Series that occurs once a year. The other part of the series is the NFL Mexico Game.
The stadiums for London games can either be the Wembley Stadium, which was originally the only venue for this competition, or the Twickenham Stadium, which was originally designed for rugby. For 2019 the two stadiums were said to have an equal number of games – 2 each. That being said, there is one more stadium in play for the future – the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The NFL Mexico Game
Like in most international NFL games, the one held in Mexico features some of the best teams the States have to offer. The Chiefs were supposed to face the Rams in 2018, but the games were moved to LA, due to the fact that the stadium in Mexico City, Estadio Azteca, did not meet the NFL requirements. It was, most likely, a stroke of bad luck, so there is no reason to think that they will not step up in the following years.
Shut Down NFL Games
NFL Europa
That was just the last name of the league that was set to bring American football to Europeans. NFL Europa was an original, ambitious, and all-around wholesome idea.
The trouble began when the cost started outweighing the benefits. Namely, the expenses of the games, players, and coaches were taken care of by the NFL. Considering that there were supposed to be 6 teams, and five of them ended up belonging to Germany, the NFL scrapped the idea in 2007.
China Bowl
This was supposed to be just a single match between the Patriots and the Seahawks in Beijing. Originally scheduled in 2007, but postponed to 2009, it was ultimately canceled. Much ado about nothing, really.
Bills Toronto Series
Rather than have the entire league compete, the Bills Toronto Series was envisioned as several matches played by the Buffalo Bills in Toronto. It ran from 2008 to 2013.
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