Andy Devaney
Paris has hosted just about everything – World Cups, Olympics, fashion weeks, even the odd riot – but in 2026 the city is getting something entirely different: NFL Paris, a full-blooded regular season game at the Stade de France with the New Orleans Saints front and centre. The league’s first-ever regular season clash on French soil will turn Saint-Denis into a little slice of Louisiana, complete with shoulder pads, playbooks and puzzled locals wondering why everyone keeps stopping the clock.
The game, set for 2026 at France’s national stadium, is the latest step in the NFL’s long march from American curiosity to global travelling circus. For the league, this is less a one-off detour and more another stamp in an increasingly full passport.
“Bringing a regular season game to Paris in 2026 marks an exciting next step in the continued expansion of the league’s global footprint,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. “Paris is one of the world’s greatest sporting and cultural cities with tremendous success in hosting global events that unite fans on the biggest stages. Playing our first-ever regular season game at the impressive Stade de France, together with the New Orleans Saints, underlines our continued global growth ambitions and we look forward to bringing the NFL to our passionate fans in France.”
If you’re going to launch NFL Paris, you might as well do it in a venue that’s seen more finals than a school exam board. The Stade de France, built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, is the country’s biggest stadium and has already played host to World Cup finals in football and rugby, UEFA showpieces and the Paris 2024 Olympic & Paralympic Games. It’s the sporting equivalent of a Swiss Army knife – football one week, rugby the next, and now a little gridiron to complete the set.
Paris meets pigskin
Pulling American football into this cathedral of French sport takes some serious local muscle, which is where event specialists GL events and the French authorities come in. For them, NFL Paris isn’t just another booking – it’s a statement of intent.
“Hosting the first NFL Paris game at the Stade de France reflects a shared ambition and showcases our ability to bring together different sporting cultures, deliver operational excellence, and position Paris and France as a welcoming destination for the world’s greatest sporting events,” said Chairman of the GL events Group Olivier Ginon.
“Together with the support of the State, local authorities, as well as tourism and hospitality stakeholders, GL events Group is honoured and proud to work with the NFL to write this new chapter in the history of the Stade de France, fully in line with the legacy of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.”
In other words: if there’s a major global competition going on, France wants it – and preferably at the Stade de France, with the world watching and the Metro running late.
Saints go marching into France
On the field, the New Orleans Saints have already drawn the golden ticket for the Paris date, and you don’t have to reach far into a history book to see why that makes sense. Louisiana and France have been intertwined since long before anyone thought to throw a forward pass.
“We are excited to be selected to play in the first regular season game to be held in France,” said Saints Owner Gayle Benson. “This moment is special not only because of the strong cultural connection between Louisiana and France, but also because we will compete before a growing Saints fan base in Paris. I am grateful to the NFL, Commissioner Roger Goodell and the French Government, especially Laurent Bili, Ambassador of France to the United States, Samuel Ducroquet, Ambassador of France to Sport, for helping make this historic event possible.”
The Saints already hold official international marketing rights in France as part of the NFL’s Global Markets Program, giving them a head start in turning curious Parisians into diehard Who Dats. All 32 teams are in the program across 21 markets, but here the Saints are very much the home side in this NFL Paris showcase.
France doubles down on global sport
This isn’t just a travelling show for the league; it’s also another building block in France’s strategy to cement itself as a heavyweight on the global sporting stage.
“Hosting the first-ever NFL regular season game in Paris is a powerful symbol of France’s growing place on the global sporting stage,” said Minister of Sports, Youth and Community Life Marina Ferrari. “Since 2017 The President of the Republic has made sport a national priority – as a driver of social cohesion, international influence and economic attractiveness – and this historic event fully reflects that long-term commitment.
Following the success and legacy of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, welcoming the NFL to the Stade de France demonstrates our ambition to open France to the world’s greatest sporting competitions, to embrace diverse sporting cultures and to strengthen France’s role as a leading host nation for major global events.
This partnership also illustrates how sport serves as a tool of diplomacy, innovation and opportunity for our youth and our regions. I would also like to thank the French Federation of American Football (FFFA) for its’ strong mobilisation and active engagement on this project, contributing significantly to the development and grassroots anchoring of American football in France.”
That grassroots anchoring is already underway. The NFL says there are more than 14 million fans in France, and flag football – the non-contact version of the game – will make its Olympic debut at LA28. NFL Flag, the league’s youth program, launched in France in 2023 with the FFFA and already reaches over 8,000 boys and girls, with plans to grow. Today they’re running slant routes in schoolyards; tomorrow they might be warming up on the same turf as the Saints in an NFL Paris game.
A stadium with a serious CV
The Stade de France isn’t exactly new to all of this. Opened in 1998, it’s the largest stadium in the country and home to the French national football and rugby teams. It’s the only venue on earth that can claim to have hosted a FIFA World Cup, a Rugby World Cup, UEFA Champions League finals, UEFA European Championship finals and a starring role at the 2024 Olympic & Paralympic Games.
Adding an NFL regular season game – and the whole NFL Paris operation around it – simply gives the stadium another line on a CV that’s already threatening to spill onto a second page.
How to watch – and where the NFL goes next
For now, fans will have to wait a little longer to know exactly who the Saints will face, and on which autumn Sunday they’ll be trading time-outs for café breaks. The opponent, date and kickoff time will be confirmed with the full 2026 NFL schedule this spring.
If you’re in France and can’t quite stretch to a trip to the Bay Area, Super Bowl LX will be broadcast live on Feb. 8, 2026 from the San Francisco Bay Area on:
- M6 and M6+ from Midnight CET
- BeIN Sports 1 from 23.15 CET
- NFL Game Pass on DAZN
The Paris game is part of a broader international push that now reads like a world tour. To date, 62 regular-season games have been staged outside the United States, in cities including London, Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt, Madrid, Dublin, São Paulo, Mexico City and Toronto. In 2026, the tent gets even bigger:
- One game in Melbourne, Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, featuring the Los Angeles Rams as one of the participating teams
- One game in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil at the Maracanã Stadium
- One game in Munich, Germany at FC Bayern Munich Arena
- Three games in London, U.K.
- One game in Madrid, Spain at the Bernabéu Stadium – home to Real Madrid C.F.
- One game in Paris, France, at the Stade de France Stadium, featuring the New Orleans Saints as one of the participating teams
For ticket information and updates on all 2026 international fixtures – including the Paris showdown – fans can register their interest at:
- 2026 NFL Melbourne game, visit: nfl.com/Melbourne
- 2026 NFL Rio game, visit: nfl.com/Rio
- 2026 NFL Munich game, visit: nfl.com/Munich
- 2026 NFL Madrid game, visit: nfl.com/Madrid
- 2026 NFL Paris game, visit: nfl.com/Paris
Croissants, quarterbacks and a new kind of Sunday
So what will NFL Paris actually feel like? Picture it: a Sunday in Saint-Denis with tailgates next to boulangeries, Saints jerseys queuing for espresso, and a sea of black and gold trying to explain pass interference to a group of bemused rugby fans.
What’s certain is that when the Saints come marching into the Stade de France in 2026, they won’t just be playing a football game. They’ll be helping to write a new chapter in France’s sporting story – one where the snap count is in English, the noise is universal, and the world’s most-watched league adds another iconic city to its growing global map.
