NFL Announces 5 International Games for 2019 Season
This upcoming season will mark the 13th year of the NFL’s International Series, and five games will take place outside of the United States, tying a record set in 2017.
Four games will be held in London and one will take place in Mexico City, the league announced Wednesday.
The Chicago Bears and Oakland Raiders will open the International Series on Oct. 6 in a new location in London: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, home of the English Premier League soccer club.
Bears will face the Oakland Raiders on Sunday, Oct. 6, 2019 at the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London – the first NFL game to be played at the newly constructed stadium.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 17, 2019
The 62,062-seat stadium, which cost around $1.3 billion to build, opened April 3. It has hosted some Tottenham home games and Champions League games.
One week after the Bears-Raiders matchup, the stadium will host a game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Carolina Panthers on Oct. 13.
The other two London games will take place at Wembley Stadium, which has hosted all but three of the London NFL games so far. Twickenham Stadium, home of England’s national rugby union team, has hosted the others, including two in 2017.
The Cincinnati Bengals will play the Los Angeles Rams at Wembley on Oct. 27, and a week later the Houston Texans and Jacksonville Jaguars will play there.
It will be the Raiders’ fifth international contest, which is second-most in the NFL. (Jacksonville’s London game will be its seventh there.) They will get an up-close look at former Raider Khalil Mack in a Bears uniform.
See you in London, #RaiderNation pic.twitter.com/S2bl9z1hH1
— Oakland Raiders (@Raiders) April 17, 2019
The Raiders are designated as the “home” team for this London game, which means they’ll play just seven games in Oakland next season — likely their last in the Bay Area before they move to Las Vegas.
Apart from the London NFL games, the league will also return to Estadio Azteca in Mexico City when the Los Angeles Chargers “host” the Kansas City Chiefs.
The NFL planned on having a game at that stadium last season, but poor field conditions caused the league to move the Chiefs-Rams game to Los Angeles.
With the Panthers making their first trip to London this season, the Green Bay Packers will be the only team to not play in an international game. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers has expressed his desire to play in one.
Feelings mutual Aaron!@AaronRodgers12 is eager to come to the ?? with the @packers ? pic.twitter.com/GLErp5vLK4
— NFL UK (@NFLUK) February 7, 2019
“We travel too well. Nobody wants to give up a home game with the Packers because they know it’s going to be a full house,” Rodgers said. “We’re not going to give up a home game, because we’re sold out for the next 30 years and nobody wants to give up a home game when we come to town.”
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