"Whether it's media, or whether it's labor, or whether it's our international plans or what we're doing with stadiums, all of that [requires] taking a 5-, 10-, 15-year look, and it's critical to do that," Goodell said in an exclusive interview with CNBC here ahead of the Week 1 game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams, set to kick off Thursday night at 8:35 pm ET.
"If you're not, you're being irresponsible," he added.
Earlier this month, Goodell, 67, signed a four-year between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Los Angeles Chargers — streamed on YouTube — was watched by 18.5 million viewers in the U.S. and just 1.2 million abroad.
Goodell's global growth plans include playing nine games outside of the U.S. in 2026 and 10 international contests in 2027. He's previously said he'd like to get that number to 16, but he'll need player buy-in to do so.
The league's current collective bargaining agreement caps the number of international games at 10. The CBA expires in March 2031 — aligning with Goodell's contract.
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Banking on branding
"I think they see the opportunity. I get calls, texts from our players during the offseason, and they're all over the world, so I think this generation of players is used to being international," said Goodell. "I think they're used to looking at opportunities to continue to grow their brands, and I think it's great for the NFL."
The league's international strategy is predicated on holistic growth that goes beyond playing a once-a-year game in a certain city, said Goodell. It's unclear how much flying into an international city for a week to play a game moves the needle for sustained fandom.
The league is relying on its
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Hypothetically, Goodell said, he could envision an NFL with multiple teams based in Europe. Still, he declined to put a time frame on establishing an international franchise because "it's all part of a broader plan to continue to develop our business. "
"As you develop your business, at some point in time, you may get to that place where you say, you know, putting a franchise or franchises globally is a good idea," Goodell said. "You're looking down the road, maybe you do a division in Europe, so they're playing against one another. The beauty and the advantage we have is that we're playing once a week. "
The league's international growth is also tied to expanding global media exposure, he said. Netflix has the global broadcast rights to the 49ers-Rams game from Melbourne.
"We're looking at how we continue to grow our media exposure globally," Goodell said. "More and more of our games are on free television and on media partners that are promoting the game, and they're expanding the game, and that's really important to us. "
