NFL players are expected to be at peak performance 17 times a season, regardless of what leads up to gameday.
That’s a reasonable request when you’re playing a road game, a short flight away, a week after a home game.
But what about when you’re playing on the other side of the country a week after you had to fly 12 hours in both directions for your last game? How does all of the travel, jetlag, commitments, limited practice time, and everything that comes with that impact how you play? Especially when your opponent has had a week of regular preparation to get read for you?
The NFL officially announced its 2026 International Series this week, which includes nine games, the most in league history and the contractual maximum under a 2023 resolution with players. 16 teams will take trips around the world to play this season (the Jaguars and 49ers will do so twice).
49ers coach Kyle Shanahan went as far as to say that his team gets “no benefit” from traveling to Australia for Week 1, especially when there’s no bye week afterward. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell offered a polite rebuke of that sentiment, essentially telling him that his concerns were noted and discarded.
PFT’s Mike Florio believes those concerns are legitimate, not just from the coach and player point of view, but also from the fan’s perspective.
International games will create a competitive imbalance until there are 16 per year — and every team has to play one. pic.twitter.com/sWLmNzTn4D
— PFT Live (@PFT_Live) May 14, 2026
“What did fans do? They look at the schedule to see, did they get lucky or did they get hosed? How many teams are we facing coming off of their bye week? How many consecutive road games do we have at some stretch?” he asked on PFT Live. “If you’re a season ticket holder, how many times do I have to go to a game Sunday and then turn around and do it again on Thursday night? We see fans have to do that. Just all the little things that affect the team and the fan experience.”
Roger Goodell has said his goal is for the NFL to have 16 international games each season so that every team has to play one. Florio believes that the competitive imbalance will continue until that happens.
“Beyond losing the home game or losing a road game you could travel to, there are potential competitive impacts, of teams now being asked to pack up their stuff and go all over the world,” he said. “And so my point is this. The NFL doesn’t care about that. The NFL cares more about growing the game globally to the point where it is willing to undermine the integrity of the sport. And I think this is why they want to get to 16. They want to play 16 international games, so everybody has to do one.”
Ironically, making every NFL team play one international game each season wouldn’t solve any competitive issues. One team traveling to London is very different from another team traveling to Brazil or Australia, especially if they have to turn around and play another game the following weekend.
The discussion also has to account for the fact that by the time we hit the 16-game international series mark, the NFL would undoubtedly be at an 18-game season, which introduces a whole other set of impacts and concerns.
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