NFL announces new international venues – Dublin 2025, Melbourne 2026

With all eyes on the Super Bowl, the NFL has been making all sorts of waves announcing breaking news. The latest announcements concern the future of the International Series, which will see two new locations added over the next two years.

The first new venue will be Croke Park in Dublin, a city that has hosted six college football games since 2012 and is slated to host two more by 2027. The home team for that game will be the Pittsburgh Steelers, who have a strong connection to the Emerald Isle through their founders, the Rooney family, and the league’s Global Markets Program, which allows teams to market themselves to overseas fans.

That initiative also played a part in determining the hosts for the second new venue, as the Los Angeles Rams will serve as the home team for a game at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 2026. It was long suspected that a West Coast team would appear in the NFL’s first game down under, to help with the time difference between Australia and the United States.

The Steelers’ opponents will be announced when the 2025 schedule is revealed in the spring, and the Rams’ opponents will follow a year later. But are the Minnesota Vikings a likely opponent for either team? Let’s take a look at which game – if either – the Purple could appear in…

Could the Vikings face the Steelers in Dublin in 2025?

Thanks to the NFL’s schedule formula, which will pit the NFC North against the AFC North in 2025, the Vikings are on the Steelers’ list of home opponents for next season, along with the Bengals, Browns, Ravens, Bills, Dolphins, Colts, Packers and Seahawks.

The NFL rarely puts divisional games on the international stage, which probably rules out the Bengals, Browns and Ravens from appearing in Dublin. The Dolphins and Colts are also set to host games in Spain and Germany, respectively, next season, which means they are likely not to also appear as road teams in Ireland.

The Packers and Vikings played international games in 2024, while the Bills hosted a game in 2023, which leaves the Seattle Seahawks – who last made an international appearance against the Buccaneers in Germany in 2022 – as the most likely team to face the Steelers at Croke Park.

What about a Vikings-Rams matchup in Melbourne in 2026?

The Vikings are currently not scheduled to face the Rams in 2026; however, that could change depending on the teams’ respective divisional placings in 2025. Due to the schedule rotation formula, the Rams will face an NFC North opponent at home, but for the Vikings to fill that role, they’ll have to finish in the same position as the Rams next season.

In addition to their divisional rivals – the Seahawks, 49ers and Cardinals – they will also face home games against the Cowboys and Giants from the NFC East, the Chiefs and the Chargers from the AFC West, and an as-yet-undetermined opponent from the AFC East.

As with the Dublin game, it’s unlikely the NFL will move a divisional game to Melbourne, although picking a team from the Pacific or Mountain time zones would help with broadcasting the game back in the States. The time difference and amount of travel required might also rule out the New York Giants and the potential AFC East team, although the possibility of 2024 MVP Josh Allen leading the Bills to Australia might turn a few heads.

By 2026, the Kansas City Chiefs will be three years removed from their last overseas trip, but as a midwestern team and also one of the league’s most successful franchises recently, they might have the cachet to veto being sent to Australia. The Chargers, however, have not played an international game since 2018, and the NFL might see the opportunity to play a Los Angeles derby against the Rams in front of an overseas crowd as too big to miss.

Who do you think these two teams will face on the international stage? Let us know via email at UKVikingsFanClub@gmail.com or get in touch via any of our social media channels.

Header images: © NFL