The New Orleans Saints are expected to play a regular-season game in Paris in the next couple of years, team president Dennis Lauscha said Tuesday.
According to Jeff Duncan of NOLA.com, the NFL and officials at Stade de France are still finalizing an agreement, but Lauscha said an official announcement could come soon.
“You might hear in the next couple weeks that we might be having a game internationally and that game may be in Paris,” Lauscha said at the Greater New Orleans Quarterback Club on Tuesday. “We (the Saints) have the rights to the country of France and Monaco, so that makes so much sense, we think. We’re really excited about that (possibility).”
The game would be the first for the NFL in France with Stade de France, which has hosted events such as the Olympics and finals of the UEFA Champions League and World Cup, featuring a capacity of 81,338.
The New Orleans Saints are expected to host a game at Stade de France in Paris as part of the NFL’s International Series. (Photo by Xu Zijian/Xinhua via Getty Images)
The NFL has grown its international footprint dramatically over the past two decades since the 2005 San Francisco 49ers-Arizona Cardinals game at Estadio Azteca in Mexico. There were seven games this season overseas — Brazil, Germany, Ireland, Spain, and England (three) — and the league has five planned for now for 2026 in Australia, Brazil, Mexico, and London (two).
Commissioner Roger Goodell has spoken about expanding the number of international games per season to up to 16 in a single season by 2030.
The Saints own the international marketing rights in France after the league awarded them as part of its league’s global markets program. A group of Saints executives, including owner Gayle Benson and linebacker DeMario Davis, went to Paris over the summer as part of a marketing trip. The team also struck a partnership with the European League of Football’s Paris Musketeers