The NFL’s international roadshow is getting bigger and better.A record nine games will be played on foreign soil in 2026 with Australia and France joining a club which includes long-term hosts like the UK, Mexico and Germany. London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was designed wit the NFL in mindGettyThat mark will probably be broken next year as the NFL forges ahead with its global push despite opposition from J.J. Watt, who questioned the “traveling circus”.Amid the social media storm that is the annual schedule release, NFL Executive VP Hans Schroeder said that the nine international games were a major focus.“We know all 272 matchups, we know what the next year’s going to look like with every team, who everybody’s playing,” Schroeder said. “A key area is the league’s continued global expansion, and our most ever, nine games played outside the United States.”As well as more games heading elsewhere, the quality has noticeably improved.A divisional showdown between the San Francisco 49ers and LA Rams in Melbourne is massive, the Dallas Cowboys and Baltimore Ravens will battle it out in Brazil.Jared Goff and Drake Maye will go head-to-head in Germany, but it is the UK which arguably got the biggest haul as three of the five teams heading to London this season made the playoffs in 2025.The Jacksonville Jaguars face the Houston Texans and Philadelphia Eagles, while the Indianapolis Colts — a contender until Daniel Jones went down with injury — collide with a Washington Commanders team that was one game from the Super Bowl in 2024.That is no accident.Mike North, NFL VP of Broadcasting Planning, revealed that the league used to allow teams to block four or five home games a season from leaving the States.It dropped to three, two and in future the franchises may have no say at all.Watt isn’t happy with the change of focusGettyJoe Burrow finally gets his chance to play internationallyGetty“There’s a lot of conversations about eliminating the protections in their entirety,” North said via Jori Epstein.Not everybody is against the plans, of course.Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow actually requested to play abroad in 2026.He got his wish in a matchup against the Atlanta Falcons in Madrid, Spain.Burrow appeared in season two of the Netflix series ‘Quarterback’ and revealed that reaching an international audience was part of his reasoning.“Part of the reason I wanted to do the ‘Quarterback’ show, I wanted to help grow the game internationally, and so to not have a stage like that is a little disappointing,” Burrow added.NFL's Greatest......Ranking the top 10......Quarterbacks of all-time – Can anyone better Tom Brady?Wide receivers of all-time – Does Randy Moss or Jerry Rice come out on top?Running backs of all-time – Stacking Jim Brown, Barry Sanders, Walter Payton, Emmitt Smith and moreTight ends of all-time – How does Travis Kelce compare?“Because I feel like I’ve consciously worked hard to try to grow the game internationally over the last 18 months or so.“So hopefully at some point in my career we can go over there.”Dreams do come true, Joe.NFL hits back at Donald Trump criticismThe NFL has also defended its TV offerings amid criticism from President Donald Trump over the number of subscription options.“We love our model,” NFL EVP Hans Schroeder told Epstein. “We think we have the most fan-friendly model there is.“We think we’re the most available, broadly distributed of any sports and entertainment.”Stay up to date with the NFL across all our talkSPORT platforms – subscribe to our YouTube channel for the latest news, opinion, exclusive interviews and our daily unfiltered, unscripted show ‘The S* Word, from 8am ET