The Minnesota Vikings are going to London in 2022. The NFL will never turn away from a pile of cash. One of their favorite new piles is found in regular season international games. Playing games in other countries isn’t new. The NFL has been doing that for a while. The number of games, and now locations, just seems to grow. There will be five international games this year. Those games will be played in three countries. Munich will join London and Mexico City as host cities. In February, the league announced the “home” teams for the five games.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Arizona Cardinals
Jacksonville Jaguars
New Orleans Saints
Green Bay Packers
The Packers will finally be playing a regular season game in another country. The international series of regular season games started in 2007. The Packers have somehow avoided selection. They are the only team to avoid selection.
Yesterday, the league announced the matchups of the five international games.
Minnesota Vikings “@“ New Orleans Saints
Where: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. London, U.K.
When: 6:30 in the damn morning PT on October 2
How to watch: NFL Network
New York Giants “@“ Green Bay Packers
Where: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. London, U.K.
When: 6:30 in the damn morning PT on October 9
How to watch: NFL Network
Denver Broncos “@“ Jacksonville Jaguars
Where: Wembley Stadium. London, U.K.
When: 6:30 in the damn morning PT on October 30
How to watch: ESPN+
Seattle Seahawks “@“ Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Where: Allianz Arena. Munich, Germany
When: 6:30 in the damn morning PT on November 13
How to watch: NFL Network
San Francisco 49ers “@“ Arizona Cardinals
Where: Estadio Azteca. Mexico City, Mexico
When: 5:15 p.m. PT on November 21
How to watch: ESPN
I’ve always had mixed feelings over these international games. It’s a great thing for the great international fans of NFL football. I’m actually very happy for them to see these teams, especially if one of the teams is their team. I can imagine the thrill if I was one of those fans. I’m a long-distance fan of the Vikings but at least I live at one end of the same country that they play. I’m thrilled when the Vikings come to the west coast. I can imagine the thrill of European Vikings fans when their team comes to London. Or Munich. Or wherever the NFL might invade next. I’m not a fan of the league taking a home game away from a team’s fans over here. There are only nine home games each year. All of the “home” teams are NFC teams so all of the “home” teams were slated to have nine home games. Eliminating one of them is still a significant loss. I’m also not a fan of the competitive disadvantage forced upon the teams that play in these games. An NFL season is a grind. The ten teams playing in this year’s international slate of games will be dealing with a greater grind than the other 22 teams. Finally, as a west coast Vikings fan I’m not real happy about a 6:30 am start to my Sunday. I get that west coast sports fans shouldn’t bitch about game times. I remember watching a Vikings-Cowboys Monday Night game while I was in Washington D.C. The game went to overtime and finished well past midnight. That’s a very late night on a school night and a big difference from the game’s cozy 9:30 finish on the west coast. The very late game was a revelation to this spoiled west coast sports fan. Vikings won. Anyway, 6:30 in the damn morning is too damn early for NFL football.
Congratulations to the NFL’s international fans. Congratulations to the NFL on that big pile of cash.
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