NFL extends agreement to play overseas at Wembley Stadium through 2020

The NFL has made it a point in recent years to establish a presence in overseas countries, and that will continue for the foreseeable future.

The league announced Thursday that it had extended its agreement to play regular-season games at London’s Wembley Stadium for five more years, meaning that at least two games per year will be played at Wembley through 2020. The popular team to play in this game has been the Jacksonville Jaguars, and that will continue as they'll maintain their agreement to play in London annually during throughout the deal.

"This new agreement extends a very successful, long-term relationship," said Mark Waller, NFL Executive Vice President of International. "It is very exciting to be making this announcement in the same week that we will reach one million fans for the International Series in London."

Wembley Stadium hosted the first International Series game of 2015 on October 4 in an AFC East clash between the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets. The game itself wasn't pretty, but the turnout was a beautiful thing in the eyes of the NFL as a sellout crowd of 83,986 showed up. It only reinforced the league's belief that this is the most popular sport across the world, and that they can make a good profit playing games overseas.

London will host another game this week as the Buffalo Bills take on the Jaguars at 9:30 a.m. EST this Sunday. This season’s final London game will be between the Detroit Lions and Kansas City Chiefs on November 1.

We could see NFL games taking place in other countries in the coming years after NFL clubs recently approved a resolution to continue playing international regular-season games through the 2025 season. This expanded the league’s ability to play those games in countries and territories beyond the UK.