NFL owners voted Tuesday to eliminate teams\u2019 ability to protect home opponents from being scheduled for international games.<\/p>\n
Until now, teams could shield two home matchups per year from being moved abroad. That number had already been cut down significantly \u2014 teams once had the ability to protect four or five home opponents \u2014 and the league has been chipping away at it for years. Now, it\u2019s zero.<\/p>\n
The NFL is also eliminating teams\u2019 ability to protect games against specific home opponents from being played abroad. Until now, teams could protect two home games each year. https:\/\/t.co\/utRnTQaEaA<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) May 19, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Owners also voted to raise the cap on international games from eight to 10 starting in 2027, per NFL EVP Peter O\u2019Reilly. That cap doesn\u2019t account for the Jaguars\u2019 annual game at Wembley Stadium, which sits outside the standard international series framework under a separate agreement the team has held with the league for years. Add that in, and the NFL could play as many as 11 games overseas in 2027.<\/p>\n NFL EVP Peter O\u2019Reilly announces that owners voted through a measure to increase the cap on international games from eight to 10 in 2027. That doesn\u2019t include the Jags\u2019 game at Wembley, so we could have 11 international games next year.<\/p>\n \u2014 Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) May 19, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n The protection change is the more consequential of the two. As Mike North explained on a media call<\/a> last week, teams tend to protect their best opponents, which quickly limits what the league can send overseas. Once Baltimore gets used in one market, it\u2019s off the table for the others. Teams like Philadelphia and Cincinnati, which have been eager for international appearances, kept getting squeezed out because their opponents kept protecting games against them.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t have a team say, \u2018Well, I don\u2019t want my two best games eligible for international,’\u201d North said. \u201cWhat kind of message does that send to the international fans?\u201d<\/p>\n The league is playing nine international games in 2026<\/a> across seven countries, already the most in history and surpassing the previous cap. Ten is a step forward, but it\u2019s not where the league wants to end up. Goodell has said his target is 16<\/a> international games per season \u2014 one for every team \u2014 and you can\u2019t really run a protection system in a world where every team is going overseas every year.<\/p>\n Getting rid of it now is the logical move, but it also makes financial sense for the league.<\/p>\n