Super Bowl at risk of leaving USA as NFL commissioner makes telling 11-word claim

The NFL has been expanding their horizons as of late, most recently debuting in Brazil, and now the sport's showpiece could be on the move, according to the league's commissioner

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell admitted that the Super Bowl could one day be hosted outside the United States.

Another successful weekend of the International Series has passed, with rookie Caleb Williams leading his Chicago Bears to victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars and Trevor Lawrence as leagues of fans packed into the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to watch.

Action across the pond has been the norm since 2007, and with other countries such as Germany tasting regular season action and Spain set to be given a slice of the NFL pie, there's no shortage of eagerly awaited ties away from the US.

The seasonal showpiece that is the Super Bowl has always remained firmly stateside, however. According to its commissioner, however, the showdown may eventually leave its country of conception for greener pastures.

“We’ve always traditionally tried to play a Super Bowl in an NFL city – that was always sort of a reward for the cities that have NFL franchises,” Commissioner Goodell stated on Saturday. “But things change. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if that [a Super Bowl abroad] happens one day.

“If we do expand our season – our regular season – to an 18-and-two structure, I see us going to 16 of those games being in international markets.

“A lot of that depends on – can we continue to make the game safer, can we continue to modify the way we conduct the offseason as well as the training camp and as well as the season so that these guys feel comfortable being able to play that period of time.”

The NFL's first regular-season game to take place off US soil was in 2005 when Kurt Warner’s Arizona Cardinals and the San Francisco 49ers clashed in Mexico City.

The 100,000-strong crowd inspired a further shift abroad - namely to Europe, where the International Series was founded in 2007 – and the New York Giants and Miami Dolphins played what would be the first of many regular-season ties in England.

Since then, gridiron heavyweights have clashed in Canada and Germany – with pre-season games gracing Asia and South America in the past.

Earlier this season, the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers even faced off in Brazil as the NFL debuted in Latin America's largest country, and Commissioner Goodell has set his sights on some other nations in the not-so-distant future.

“I have no doubt that we’re going to be playing in Ireland,” Goodell added at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. “I don’t know if it will be next year, but it’s coming soon. We’re looking at other markets in the other direction, toward Asia. There’s probably more interest than we can handle.”