The Washington Commanders and Jacksonville Jaguars have been named as two of the teams playing in the 2026 NFL London games, the league announced Wednesday.
Both Washington and Jacksonville will host games at Tottenham Stadium in London, England, which is the home of the Tottenham Hotspur of the English Premier League. The stadium has a seating capacity of 62,850.
“We look forward to welcoming the Commanders and Jaguars back to London as part of the 2026 NFL international games,” said NFL U.K. & Ireland General Manager Henry Hodgson. “The NFL London games bring fans together from across the UK and beyond, and play a key role in engaging our existing fans as well as creating new audiences and driving NFL fandom in this market.”
The NFL will announce the opponents for each game, plus the date, kickoff time, and television coverage for the games when the complete league schedule is released this spring.
“Last season’s trip to Madrid was personally unforgettable, and a tremendous milestone for our organization,” said Washington Commanders Managing Partner Josh Harris. “Playing in the NFL’s first regular season game in Spain and experiencing the passion of fans was truly special and reaffirmed the power of and excitement for the Commanders and NFL globally. London is home to some of the most passionate sports fans in the world. We’re grateful for the opportunity to bring the Commanders and NFL football to this unique city. This trip represents another meaningful moment to engage new communities, strengthen relationships, and continue to enhance our fanbase in the UK and worldwide.”
The NFL also announced that Jacksonville will also play at game at Wembley Stadium in London this upcoming season, which will be played back-to-back with its contest at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Wembley Stadium, which opened in 2007, is the home of the England national football team. The venue has a seating capacity of 86,000 for American football.
“Last season was my first experience in London as head coach of the Jaguars, and my immediate takeaway was London is undoubtedly our home away from home.” Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Cohen said. “We have a passionate and knowledgeable fan base in London, built over time and still growing, and we’re making a positive impact with fans throughout the United Kingdom as well. That’s something our entire organization, starting with our ownership, has worked very hard to achieve and takes great pride in further developing each season. With two games in London in 2026, it’s going to be great fun for our fans in London as well as for everyone in Jacksonville who will be making the trip. I’m definitely looking forward to it, and I know our players are happy to return as well.”
Overall, the 2026 NFL season will feature a record nine International Games. Details announced to date for each game can be found at the link below.
The NFL will eventually have half as many international games per year as there are teams, so each will have a foreign trip on the schedule annually. Since most of these games are played in stadiums that are home grounds for European soccer clubs, stadium availability and European taxes are likely too big a hurdle (foreseeable future) for the league to overcome to base a team permanently for 8 or 9 home games (plus preseason and playoffs) per season. If the league were to expand to 36 (the next logical number) teams in San Diego, San Antonio, St. Louis, etc. are more more likely than London, Madrid, or Munich. The Chargers played in a 27,000 seat soccer stadium while SoFi was under construction, so I could see an expansion franchise playing in the Bounce House while a new, modern, NFL-caliber “Citrus Bowl” is constructed on the current site. The Alamodome is already slated for a major overhaul. A 6×6 alignment would likely be the result with Tampa returning to a reformed NFC Central, Miami in the AFC East, Jacksonville in an NFC Central with Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Houston, and Tennessee, while Orlando could be slotted in the NFC East to divide Florida up among 4 division. Remember, the NFL has prioritized rivalry over geography since before the merger in the 60s. Potential alignment would be:
NFC East: NYG, Philly, Washington, Dallas, St. Louis, Orlando
NFC Central: Carolina, Detroit, Green Bay, Tampa Bay, Minnesota, Chicago/Hammond ;)
NFC West: Atlanta, New Orleans, San Antonio, Arizona, LA Rams, San Francisco
AFC East: Buffalo, New England, NY Jets, Baltimore, Indianapolis, Miami
AFC Central: Cleveland, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Houston, Tennessee, Jacksonville
AFC West: Kansas City, Denver, Las Vegas, LA Chargers, San Diego, Seattle
Orlando is 84 miles from Tampa. No way the Bucs would allow an expansion team that close to them. Also, four Florida teams seems like way too many. I also cannot imagine the league expanding by four teams. Having each team lose FOUR players off of their active roster at one time due to the expansion draft is crazy. If the league expands in the US, the only two logical cities are San Diego and St. Louis. I would assume the league would just go to unbalanced divisions with one division in each conference with five teams.
I find it interesting that so many NFL games are shipped overseas while the EPL never moves any of their games to the US.
I never suggested the NFL would add four teams in a single year, the expansion would occur in pairs. There is simply no alignment or scheduling formula that would work **long term** at 34 teams. So going to 36 teams over the course of several seasons in two phases is the likely route the NFL will take.
As far as Orlando’s proximity to Tampa is concerned, it was less than 30 years ago that the NFL allowed Art Modell to move his franchise to within 38 miles of the Washington Redskins. Baltimore is also just 108 miles from Philthydelphia also, not much further than the 84 miles you cited, so that’s *two* that were as close or closer than what you mentioned. The Orlando metro area is far larger, growing faster, and has a much larger pool of potential sponsors than Baltimore ever did.
It is all about the money and the state of Florida is attracting both people and money. It is very tax friendly to businesses as well as individuals, which helps in attracting free agents. Are there other options besides the four I mentioned, sure. And it is not out of the realm of possibility that a dark horse emerges that isn’t one of the four I mentioned or an obvious alternative.
Portland would seem to be an obvious alternative, but the politics of the state are generally hostile to tax dollars being spent on stadiums, and Portland/Oregon would rather build a stadium for 81 home MLB games a year than 8 or 9 home NFL games per year if they spend any at all.
Florida politics isn’t hostile in the same way. Texas is similar and why the Spurs are getting a new arena and the Alamodome is being completely overhauled/rebuilt in the near future. I’ve recently read of a proposal in San Diego that is along the coast, but outside the downtown area. I am not familiar with the area to know if it is a long shot or a pipe dream, but the NFL did like having Super Bowls in San Diego when there was a viable venue, so if a proper stadium is built the NFL will be there.
I was hoping for Chicago to play in London. Not the Washington Football Team. Oh well.
Madrid would be excellent for Bears how about Bears vs Eagles.
The follow is a dream mock NFL schedule for one certain weekend in 2026.
Bye: Green Bay & Tennessee
Nationally televised games.
Thursday: LA Rams at Arizona (Amazon)
Sunday: 9:30AM ET Seattle vs Washington at London Tottenham Stadium (NFL Network)
Sunday Night: Tampa Bay at Dallas (NBC)
Monday: Houston at Indianapolis 7:15PM ET (ESPN)
Kansas City at Denver 8:15PM ET (ABC)
CBS single header
Pittsburgh at Jacksonville
Detroit at Minnesota
New England at NY Jets
Cincinnati at Baltimore
Miami at Las Vegas (4:05PM ET)
FOX early doubleheader
NY Giants at Philadelphia
Carolina at Cleveland
Atlanta at New Orleans
FOX late doubleheader
Chicago at Buffalo
San Francisco at LA Chargers