Is the NFL International Series unfair for some teams?

Yahoo Sports’ Jason Fitz, senior NFL reporter Jori Epstein and senior NFL writer Frank Schwab discuss the league’s release of the upcoming season’s international games – which includes the Minnesota Vikings having to play overseas on back-to-back weeks in two different countries. Hear the full conversation on “Inside Coverage” – and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen.

Video Transcript

The Jags became sort of the joke of the international series because nobody went to see Jacksonville games.

You’ve got real teams that are in their Super Bowl window losing home playoff or home games.

If I’m a Minnesota Vikings fan, I want every single home game I can get for a team that won 14 games last year.

To your point, Frank, if I’m a Chargers fan, like, I want home games.

Like this is the moment against the Chiefs.

Like that’s your biggest game of the year.

Literally your biggest game of the year is the home game against the Chiefs.

gave it away.

It’s such a slap in the face to everything that happens for fans that wait and wait and wait for the opportunity.

I, I can only imagine if you, if you’re a, a Browns fan and this turns out to be a magical year and suddenly your team opens up undefeated and Shatour is lighten it up, and then it’s like, great, now we lose a home game to London.

Like, these are, that, that’s just the chances that they take in this process that I think is so unfair to the fans that get kicked in the no, no places year in and year out.

For their fandom.

And this is the reward they get.

Now you get to travel internationally to try to watch your favorite team.

Yeah, and it’s only going to get worse because the NFL has approved going up from 4 international games in addition to the standing Jacksonville game at Wembley to 8 international games in addition to the standing game at Wembley.

And so we’re only going to increase that slate, and their goal, I believe, is to have every single team play an international game every year.

I mean, we have the Vikings playing.

Two international games back to back this year.

So I mean some of this stuff is crazy.

I feel like that’s Woody Johnson being like after you embarrassed me abroad with the Vikings beating us, you have to make them play 2 games abroad.

2 weeks abroad in different countries.

You don’t think that takes a little bit out of you?

And this is a team that won 14 games last year and should come back and feel like we could take the next step with a Super Bowl.

And now, like that, I think that’s going to mess with their their season for a little bit.

That’s gonna tire them out.

Like this is.

You’re, you’re spending two weeks in Europe, like, uh, I just, again, these, these kind of things and it’s, it’s probably my schedule nerdom and nerdom and uh OCD and all that, but I’m like, this is not fair to 1 out of 32 teams.

None of the other teams are dealing with this.

Why are the Vikings dealing with this?

Is the NFL International Series unfair for some teams? | Inside Coverage

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