Some quick thoughts on Detroit Lions' potential to play internationally in 2025
Allen Park — On Wednesday, the NFL announced it will play its first international game in Berlin, Germany. Of course, Detroit Lions fans are curious if they’ll ultimately be selected to participate in the contest, which will be held at Olympic Stadium next season.
While there’s an expectation the Lions will eventually play a game in Germany — especially given the team was granted global marketing rights in the country earlier this year — next season is bordering on unlikely.
The primary reason is international games are typically hosted by teams with an extra home game. The exception is the Jacksonville Jaguars, who had a three-year agreement to host one game per season at Wembley Stadium starting in 2022.
Since the NFL expanded to a 17-game schedule in 2021, the AFC and NFC have rotated which conference gets nine home games. This year, the NFC had the extra home game, and the four international games not hosted by the Jaguars were hosted by NFC teams. In 2023, the home team for each of the five international matchups was an AFC team.
That means all eight of next season’s international games should be hosted by AFC teams. Of course, that doesn’t preclude the Lions from being a visitor for one of those contests.