The Green Bay Packers have played two international games over the last three seasons. It seems like another one is on the way in 2025. According to Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac, the Pittsburgh Steelers are expected to host a game against the Packers in Ireland.
The NFL is projected to play eight international games next season.
“We are definitely going to Spain, we announced that,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said earlier this year. “We expect to return to Mexico City. We expect to return to Brazil. We will certainly be back in the U.K. And we’re also looking at the potential of another game in the U.K. area in Ireland, possibly. That’s a possibility. And we’ll certainly be back here in Germany. So if that total’s eight, that’s what we’re shooting for.”
Ireland was the home to a preseason game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Chicago Bears in 1997, but that would be the first ever regular season game in the country.
Next season, the AFC has an extra home game. So by playing on a neutral field, the Packers would have eight road games, eight home games, and an international game to complement the 17-game schedule.
So far, the Packers haven’t had much success playing outside of the United States. In 2022, they lost 27-22 to the New York Giants as a home team in London. In Week 1 of 2024, Green Bay traveled to São Paulo to the first ever NFL game in Brazil, and lost 34-29 to the Philadelphia Eagles.
“We’re hoping that sometime soon we’ll be playing another game in Ireland,” Steelers President Art Rooney II said. “We played back in the ’90s, it was a preseason game. We expect next time we play a game in Ireland it will probably be a regular-season game. And who knows, it could be one of these years coming up soon.”
Aviva Stadium and Croke Park, both in Dublin, are the potential sites for the game.
The Packers might not be happy with another big trip on the schedule. But that’s the way the NFL has trended, and it’s not going back.