The NFL this week announced a nine-game slate of international games for the 2026 season, featuring games from Melbourne to Munich, and JJ Watt is sounding the alarm.
The CBS NFL analyst took to social media on Wednesday to call out what he sees as an excessive tilt toward overseas games, writing “international game slate is nearing the realm of traveling circus as opposed occasional showcase.”
International game slate is nearing the realm of traveling circus as opposed occasional showcase.
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) May 13, 2026
The Jacksonville Jaguars have for several years played multiple games in London each season. This year, the San Francisco 49ers play in Australia in Week 1 and Mexico City in Week 11, a fact that head coach Kyle Shanahan publicly complained about during the offseason.
While games are often scheduled to give teams extra time for travel on either or both ends of the trip (the Niners’ Week 1 game, for example, is on a Friday morning), the burden is obviously more significant than a routine cross-country trip.
Responding to Watt’s post on X, Baltimore Ravens linebacker Kyle Van Noy wrote that global expansion “is all they care about.”
“It’s all they care about in my opinion because it’s the biggest growth which means money. YouTube , Amazon, and all the streaming services are global,” he wrote. “They going for it all JJ! Will be interesting seeing the game in the future where I’m sure teams will play multiple games overseas.”
It’s all they care about in my opinion because it’s the biggest growth which means money. YouTube , Amazon, and all the streaming services are global. They going for it all JJ! Will be interesting seeing the game in the future where I’m sure teams will play multiple games…
— Kyle Van Noy (@KVN_03) May 13, 2026
Watt has become a vocal advocate for players since joining the NFL on CBS crew. In this case, his simple reminder of the NFL’s original stated intent behind overseas games speaks volumes.
The league increasingly appears to playing in countries where it wants to create new fans, rather than purely regions where it is already popular. And as the league also pushes for an 18th game on the schedule and more revenue from its TV partners, the embrace of faraway markets may lead to further backlash from players and coaches.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.