The NFL has gradually rolled out the identity of the team’s playing international games in 2026 and the Green Bay Packers have yet to be named as one of the teams going overseas. It remains a distinct possibility they will be playing in one of the remaining games in Europe, however. Ultimately, the hope is that the Packers will not be playing there this season.
If the Packers were to play in Europe this season, it would cost them a valuable home game. With an odd number of games being played each season, teams alternate between nine home games and eight. This year, the Packers are scheduled to have nine home games. If they lose a home game to play overseas, that costs the city of Green Bay one home game and the revenue that goes along with it. Local hotels, restaurants, and bars will lose roughly 11 percent of their annual revenue from Packers games if one of the nine games is moved overseas. The county and city will also lose tax revenue.
It also costs the Packers home field advantage. Last season, they had the disadvantage of playing nine road games and only eight home games. If they lose a home game to a neutral sight, they will experience the disadvantage of playing nine road games but not the advantage of nine home games.
Home field advantage remains important in the NFL. Point spreads change due to home field advantage because oddsmakers understand its importance. Across the NFL last season, home teams won 53.3 percent of all games while road teams won just 46.7 percent.
For the Packers, the difference is more pronounced. Over the last 10 seasons (2016-2025), the Packers are 62-34-1 at home, good for a .645 winning percentage. On the road, Green Bay went 45-45-1, a .500 winning percentage. Playing at Lambeau Field gives the Packers a distinct statistical advantage.
The overseas games are also disruptive to the players themselves. NFL players have routines in the week leading up to and following a game. Regular Thursday night games can disturb this routine, but overseas games are even more disruptive. There is a time difference of either five or six hours depending on where exactly the game will be played. By the time the players get used to the time difference, they are back to the United States and have to adjust again.
Understandably, the NFL usually schedules a team’s bye week around an overseas game. This helps reduce the impact of the time difference on one end, but it also reduces the rest a team gets during its bye week and can result in a very early bye week depending on when the game is scheduled.
The European games are also disruptive to the fans. The NFL used to play them in the evening local time, so they still started at the usual noon central time along with the rest of the early games. Now, however, the league starts European games in the afternoon local time. This may be more convenient for the fans purchasing tickets at the stadium, but it means games start at 8:30 AM central time or 6:30 AM on the west coast. Having to wake up early on a Sunday morning to watch a football game is less than ideal and disrupts the football watching routines of fans.
The NFL can easily play preseason games overseas. Yes, foreign fans are seeing a lesser product during the preseason, but the novelty of seeing just one or two NFL games in your city per year will keep foreign fans coming back and make them interested in buying tickets. It will also still allow the NFL to “grow the game,” which is what it is trying to do by scheduling games overseas.
The NFL has discussed the possibility of expanding to Europe at some point. They would need to place at least four teams there which would create other logistical difficulties that the league will eventually have to sort out. But playing preseason games instead of regular season games overseas until then will not have a major impact on that eventual possibility.
Despite the uniqueness of an overseas game, the way the league does it puts the Packers at a disadvantage and is disruptive to the players and fans in the United States. It also costs local businesses in Green Bay money. Here’s to hoping if the Packers play another game overseas (and they will) it will not cost them a valuable home game at Lambeau Field.