The Minnesota Vikings will turn out to be the primary staff in NFL historical past to play consecutive worldwide video games in several international locations this season.
As a part of its 2025 worldwide video games slate unveiled Tuesday, the NFL introduced that the Vikings will play the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sept. 28 at Croke Park in Dublin, marking the league’s first regular-season recreation in Eire.
The Vikings will then journey to England, the place they’ll face the Cleveland Browns at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Oct. 5.
“Enjoying in Eire’s first-ever NFL recreation is a chance to introduce new followers to the Minnesota Vikings and assist the league proceed to make the sport of soccer extra accessible globally,” Vikings proprietor Mark Wilf stated in an announcement. “To take action in opposition to a storied franchise just like the Pittsburgh Steelers provides a novel problem that makes this much more particular. We’re honored to be chosen for this historic recreation and will likely be anxious to see what guarantees to be an electrical recreation day setting in Croke Park.”
The Vikings would be the street staff for each worldwide video games. Minnesota has performed 4 earlier regular-season video games in London and have gained all 4, together with final season’s win at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in opposition to the New York Jets.
“Our experiences in London have at all times been memorable, so to return in 2025 as the primary staff to play in back-to-back worldwide video games in several international locations was one thing we couldn’t go up,” Wilf stated. “UK followers have a historical past of displaying up and embracing the Minnesota Vikings, creating what typically seems like a homefield setting, and we’re hopeful that’s what we see once more in 2025.”
The upside of the scheduling quirk for the Vikings is that they’ll miss journeys to Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, the place they’ve by no means gained, and to Cleveland, the place they’ve one victory since 1989.
The primary worldwide recreation of the 2025 season will likely be performed Sept. 5 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, the place the Los Angeles Chargers will face a yet-to-be-announced opponent.
After the Vikings-Browns matchup on Oct. 5, the NFL may have two extra London video games in consecutive weeks: the Jets will face the Denver Broncos on Oct. 12 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and the Los Angeles Rams will play the Jacksonville Jaguars on Oct. 19 at Wembley Stadium.
The NFL may also return to Germany on Nov. 9, when the Atlanta Falcons play the Indianapolis Colts at Olympic Stadium within the league’s first regular-season recreation in Berlin. The NFL has performed video games in Munich and Frankfurt because the 2022 season.
The worldwide schedule wraps up on Nov. 16, when the Washington Commanders play the Miami Dolphins at Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu Stadium within the NFL’s first regular-season recreation in Spain.
ESPN’s Kevin Seifert and The Related Press contributed to this report.
