Over the past two seasons, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s push to expand the league’s global footprint has been in full swing. In 2024, the league hosted games in Brazil (São Paulo), the UK (London), and Germany (Munich). A year later, Spain (Madrid), Ireland (Dublin), and Mexico City were added to the list. Looking ahead to the 2026 season, France and even Australia are on the schedule. So naturally, the question comes up: What about India?
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With a population of 1.4 billion, India presents a massive untapped market. American football may not be mainstream there yet, but the upside is impossible to ignore. Pair that with China, and the league has two huge opportunities in Asia. Interestingly, recent online rumors suggested that Goodell had met Indian cricket administrator Jay Shah on Tuesday to discuss bringing an NFL game to India.
Claim: Goodell met Shah, a board member of the ICC, earlier this week to add India to the league’s international series.
Source of the Claim: The post came from an X account called Football Crave, racking up over 660,000 views. Fans had mixed reactions to the report, though most weren’t on board with the idea. That’s not too surprising. International games have always split opinion, especially among American viewers who prefer games to stay on home turf.
Verdict: False. The account behind the post clearly labels itself as a “parody account” in its bio. Misinformation like this has been making the rounds in recent years, so it’s easy to see why some fans bought into it. It wasn’t until later that an X community note that cleared things up:
Roger Goodell is in New Delhi today to discuss adding India to the NFL’s international series. pic.twitter.com/rnsRAlcvXe
— Football Crave (@FootballCravee) March 24, 2026
There is a grain of truth, though. Goodell did meet Jay Shah, but that meeting took place on June 11, 2024, at NFL headquarters in New York. The discussion between the two focused on fostering international sports collaborations, not scheduling games in India.
Still, it wouldn’t be shocking if India enters the conversation down the line. With games already planned in Australia and France, the NFL reportedly has its sights set on expanding further. Asia is the next logical step, and India sits right in that picture.
For now, the countries generating the most buzz for future games are Japan, the UAE, South Korea, and China. India hasn’t really been on the league’s radar just yet.
If you are unaware, the international series has been a hit so far. Last year, those games averaged 6.2 million viewers… a 32% jump. London, where the Jaguars have made it a yearly stop, continues to sell out and draw strong crowds.
Because of that success, a record nine games are set to be played outside the US in 2026, and that number is expected to keep climbing. If things keep trending that way, the idea of an expansion team overseas might not be too far-fetched either.
