Commissioner Roger Goodell praises NFL's international series; league plans to return to Spain

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MADRID — NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell praised this year’s international series and said Sunday that the league plans to return to Spain and will continue to study other possible markets.

Goodell spoke before the Washington Commanders faced the Miami Dolphins at Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in the seventh — and final — international game of the season, the most ever in one year for the NFL as it continues to expand globally.

“We will be back, we are excited,” Goodell told Spanish media. “This has been a great opportunity for us. We always wait until we get through the games, but we want to be back here in Madrid (and) Spain. I think this is a great market for us.”

There were talks of the league also trying to organize a game in Barcelona.

The NFL this year also played for the first time in Dublin and Berlin. It played in Sao Paulo to start the season in Brazil, and had three more games in London.

“It’s been spectacular,” Goodell told NFL Network. “We’ve never played seven games, Brazil was a great start and finishing here in Madrid it just feels right. This is such a great city. The stadium is remarkable and the partners at Real Madrid and the city have just been amazing.”

The NFL plans to increase the number of international games to a point where each team will get to play a game abroad every year. He said in September that the NFL also wants to play in Asia. Next year, it will go to Australia and add a game in Rio de Janeiro.

“Australia is going to be a big learning and test next year,” he said. “We are excited about that. I think we will be back in a lot of the markets we’ve been this year, but we have a couple more that we’re thinking about right now. So many cities have been reaching out, and that’s a great thing for us.”

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