All aboard the bullet train.
According to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, the league has its sights set on Japan as a host country for a regular-season game in 2027 or 2028.
Goodell broke the news on the "NFL Daily" podcast on Friday, Oct. 23 – two days before the Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints play the NFL's first international series game in France.
"Listen, Tokyo is clearly on our list, whether it's next year or the year after," Goodell said. "It's coming at some point in the near future."
Under Goodell's leadership, the NFL has expanded its international reach further than ever. In addition to at least three games per year in London, the league has tabbed Germany, Brazil and Australia as host countries for their international series
in recent years.
Looking ahead to 2027, Goodell pointed to the success of the Rams-49ers Week 1 clash in Melbourne, Australia this year – the first-ever NFL regular-season game Down Under – as a reason that a game in Tokyo could be successful.
"On a Friday morning at 10:30 (a.m.), to have 100,000 people in the stadium, it was just an incredible feeling for us. I think it's opened up new opportunities for us," Goodell said. "The travel is something we think we can manage and do it without impacting negatively on the teams. So, each of these we learned something from and we benefit and we also open those other doors.
"We're planning on playing global. That's where we're going."
This year, the NFL will put on nine regular-season games in front of international audiences – the most the league has ever played abroad in a single season.
At the league owners' meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 20, NFL vice president of club business, international and league events Peter O’Reilly said the league is considering a schedule that includes 10 international games next year. That would be the maximum number of international games allowed under the current collective bargaining agreement between the NFL and NFL Players Association.
Has the NFL ever played in Japan?
Tokyo has hosted the NFL before, but never for a regular-season matchup.
The NFL has played 14 exhibition games in Japan, 13 of them in Tokyo. The first NFL matchup in Japan was a preseason game between the Chargers and Cardinals in 1976.
Ten years later, the NFL began its "American Bowl" series of international exhibition games, a predecessor to its current international series. The league revisited the island nation more regularly for American Bowl games before it abandoned the international preseason game schedule in the early 2000s.
The last NFL game to take place in Japan was a preseason game between the Falcons and Colts in 2005.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Roger Goodell reveals plan for new NFL international series host city
