Roger Goodell (Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images)
Roger Goodell dropped an interesting hint about the next NFL expansion franchise, and it’s not the location you would expect.

Josh Allen on Leading the Bills to the Super Bowl, Winning NFL MVP, His Massive Contract, & More

There hasn’t been any NFL expansion since 2002, when the Houston Texans became the 32nd NFL franchise. After the Texans entered the league, the NFL realigned into eight divisions, each with four teams.

Among the “Big Four” North American sports leagues (NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB), the NHL is the only one that has added expansion franchises since 2005. The Vegas Golden Knights and Seattle Kraken joined the league in the 2017-18 and 2021-22 seasons, respectively, bringing the NHL to 32 teams.

Speaking to Alex Sherman and Lillian Rizzo of CNBC, the NFL commissioner indicated they could add an NFL expansion team outside the United States. Specifically, Goodell mentioned London, England, as a “possible” destination for the next NFL franchise:

“I would say that the markets outside the U.S. are very, very attractive. And we’ve got pretty good coverage here.

There are markets that could certainly support a team. We’ve always focused on, what are the competitive consequences of that? Can we manage that? And so every year we try to learn something from the international series…

“It starts to give you a sense of, can you do certain things that are going to be necessary from a scheduling standpoint and a training standpoint? When we first came up with the idea of (an international) regular season game, I didn’t think there would be as much support. But now, every team wants to do it. We don’t have to talk them into it. They’re asking us.”

With the exception of the 2020 season, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NFL has played at least one game in London every year since 2007. They have played multiple games there each year since 2013, with three on the schedule this season.

NFL Expansion Could Still Be Years Away

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell at press conference (Kirby Lee-Imagn Images)
Expansion in any of the “Big Four” professional sports leagues is easier said than done. The NBA hasn’t had an expansion franchise since 2004, when the Charlotte Bobcats (now Hornets) became the league’s 30th team.

In fact, the Hornets, Toronto Raptors and Memphis Grizzlies (previously Vancouver Grizzlies) are the only NBA expansion franchises since 1990. As for Major League Baseball, there haven’t been expansion franchises since 1998, when the Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Rays came aboard.

So, it could be a long wait until the NFL adds another franchise. 32 is an ideal number of teams with four divisions in each conference. Expanding to London seems simple before factoring in travel costs and time zones.