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Minnesota Vikings fans were surprised when reports started breaking<\/a> that they were heading overseas for the second straight season, this time to Dublin, Ireland for a \u201croad game\u201d against the Pittsburgh Steelers.<\/p>\n After they played in London, England last season, another international contest right away doesn\u2019t usually happen (unless you\u2019re the Jacksonville Jaguars). Thus, when rumors<\/a> that the MN Vikings could actually play, not just one, but back-to-back games across the pond turned reality<\/a>\u2026 heads really turned.<\/p>\n There are opinions on both sides \u2014 regarding whether or not two international games are a good thing for the Vikings, who will play week four in Dublin and week five in London, before getting week 6 as their bye \u2014 but the more information we get on how this overseas doubleheader came into being, the more we realize that this was just as much Vikings-driven as it was league-driven.<\/p>\n How did the Minnesota Vikings end up with back-to-back international games?<\/p>\n This week, NFL schedule-maker Mike North went on the Ross Tucker podcast<\/a> where he pulled back the curtain on how it all went down. It was Roger Goodell who first broached the idea to North. He did not think there was any chance the Vikings would be interested, but he asked anyway.<\/p>\n To his surprise, however, Vikings leadership went from what North described as \u201copen-minded, to willing, to kind of eager\u201d toward the opportunity. Thus, the Minnesota Vikings and the league worked out the details together and made it happen.<\/p>\n Per Mike North, NFL Schedule Creator, the Vikings went from “open minded, to willing, to kind of eager” to try something new with back to back international games in different cities. <\/p>\n With the Vikings are fully on board, it can’t come soon enough.pic.twitter.com\/cl7eUddTWf<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 The Purple Persuasion (@TPPSkol) May 15, 2025<\/a> <\/p>\n \u201cWhen we got into international games, I basically reached out to all the teams, and said, \u2018hey Vikings, you see the schedule. You know Pittsburgh is hosting a game in Dublin. You know you are a road opponent for the Steelers this year. There\u2019s a chance you could be chosen to go to Ireland.<\/p>\n Subsequent phone call: \u2018Hey Vikings, you know you\u2019re playing the Browns this year. They\u2019re hosting a game in London. You know you\u2019re a possible opponent to play the Browns in London this year. And it was actually commissioner Goodell who said, \u2018do you think they\u2019d want to do both?\u2019, and I said \u2018absolutely not, no chance.<\/p>\n But I called them and I talked to them and they went from open-minded to willing to kind of eager. And so we kind of partnered up with them, figured out a way to innovate, try something new here, and they worked with our ops team\u2026and they\u2019re going to spend the week over there and it\u2019ll be a good test for us.\u201d<\/p>\n NFL Scheduler \u2013 Mike North on the Ross Tucker Podcast<\/a><\/p>\n So there you have it. The Minnesota Vikings drove the bus on their overseas doubleheader, after Goodell floated the idea to North, who then (to his surprise) took the idea and ran with it. But who in the Vikings organization is leading the international effort?<\/p>\n Why Kevin O\u2019Connell invites these overseas games<\/p>\n According to the Star Tribune\u2019s Ben Goessling<\/a> and Andrew Krammer<\/a>, on the latest episode of the Access Vikings podcast<\/a>, it\u2019s head coach Kevin O\u2019Connell driving Minnesota\u2019s overseas bus plane. And there are a couple of reasons \u2014 some football-related, and some not.<\/p>\n First, Krammer points to something O\u2019Connell told international reporters, when speaking to them following the league\u2019s announcement last week. KOC likes the idea of having McCarthy\u2019s rookie weeks four and five to be played in the friendlier confines of Croke Park (IE) and Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (UK), instead of Heinz Field (Pittsburgh) and Huntington Bank Field (Cleveland).<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cO\u2019Connell went as far as to say that Europe is a better backdrop for JJ McCarthy, than Pittsburgh or Cleveland. He said those can be hostile environments, going on the road in the AFC North for a young quarterback, depending on when those games could fall.\u201d<\/p>\n Andrew Krammer \u2013 Access Vikings<\/a><\/p>\n It doesn\u2019t necessarily seem like the competitive balance aspect \u2014 whether that be more neutral road crowds for their rookie quarterback or whatever other advantages come with playing two roadgames overseas \u2014 was the biggest driver in Minnesota\u2019s eagerness, though.<\/p>\n Related: Apparently, Sportsbooks Have Not Learned Their Lesson on the Minnesota Vikings<\/a><\/p>\n According to Goessling, it\u2019s Kevin O\u2019Connell\u2019s ability to see the bigger picture, beyond just the football game played on the field. KOC seems to understand how important back-to-back international games will be for the Minnesota Vikings brand, especially after playing in London two of the past three seasons, even prior to 2025.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it it is something that you have heard them embrace And I think Kevin O\u2019Connell specifically. I mean, every time that he\u2019s been over there, he talks about \u2018we love expanding our brand, introducing fans around the world to the Vikings and the way we do things.<\/p>\n It does not hurt to have a head coach who I think is open enough and understands enough of the business side of this, and the marketing side of this to say, \u2018Yeah we can make this work.\u2019 I don\u2019t think that is an accident that this has picked up. Because the pace of this has picked up, with Kevin O\u2019Connell as the coach. It\u2019s three times in four years now that he\u2019s been the head coach that they\u2019ve been in the UK and four games in four years internationally.<\/p>\n Mike Zimmer did this once and you could tell he wasn\u2019t a big fan of it\u2026So the fact that it happened once in Mike Zimmer\u2019s eight years and it\u2019s now happened three times, four games in Kevin O\u2019Connell\u2019s four years, I don\u2019t think that\u2019s an accident. I think the head coach buying into this is a big factor here.<\/p>\n If you listen to the rest of the Vikings Access podcast uploaded on Friday, you\u2019ll start planning your yearly Minnesota Vikings preparations around at least one international game. Because with KOC bought in on the idea of expanding the MN Vikings brand, it sounds like going overseas could become a very regular thing going forward.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMentioned in this article: Kevin O’Connell<\/a> NFL International Games<\/a> schedule<\/a> <\/p>\n More About:Minnesota Vikings<\/a><\/p>\n \t\t\t