The China Mail - Super Bowl rematch kicks off NFL season as league expands global reach

Seven months after Seattle defeated the New England Patriots to win their second Super Bowl crown, the two teams meet again on Wednesday to launch a sprawling 2026 campaign that will play out across seven countries in four continents.

The Seahawks' bid to retain their title will be tested by a crowded field of contenders that includes their NFC West divisional rivals the Los Angeles Rams.

The Rams are chasing a repeat of their 2022 Super Bowl triumph in front of their home fans in Los Angeles, with the climactic game of the season returning to the SoFi Stadium next February.

Los Angeles have rolled the dice assembling a star-studded roster, adding Myles Garrett to an already fearsome defence while luring defensive great Aaron Donald out of retirement.

Yet the Rams are just one of a clutch of teams with realistic title ambitions.

The Denver Broncos look well placed to build on their promising 2025 campaign, when the team finished with a 14-3 record but saw their playoff hopes derailed by an injury to quarterback Bo Nix.

The Broncos open their season with a blockbuster divisional clash against the Kansas City Chiefs, who will welcome the return of Patrick Mahomes after the quarterback suffered a season-ending knee injury in December last year.

Mahomes, who led the Chiefs to Super Bowl wins in 2020, 2023 and 2024, will resume his partnership with veteran tight end Travis Kelce, playing in possibly his farewell season following an off-season marriage to pop star Taylor Swift.

A slew of other teams will also have legitimate title aspirations, notably the Philadelphia Eagles, the Buffalo Bills and the Baltimore Ravens.

- Expanding global footprint -

One of the sub-plots of the season will see the NFL expand its global fooprint as never before.

While the sport has staged outside the United States for decades, this season will break new ground with nine fixtures played overseas.

The first of those fixtures will see the Los Angeles Rams take on the San Francisco 49ers in Melbourne on Thursday -- the first ever NFL game to be staged in Australia.

The NFL's international roadshow will then roll into Rio de Janeiro on September 27, when the Baltimore Ravens face the Dallas Cowboys at the iconic Maracana Stadium.

The now traditional slate of fixtures in London will be followed by the first ever NFL regular season game in France on October 25, when the Pittsburgh Steelers face the New Orleans Saints at the Stade de France in Paris.

Other international games are scheduled to take place in Munich, Madrid and Mexico City.

The NFL's embrace of overseas markets is only set to increase in the years ahead.

The league has already voted to increase the number of games outside the United States to 10 in 2027, while NFL commissioner Roger Goodell last month rekindled the age-old debate about the eventual establishment of an overseas franchise.

"At some point, there will be NFL teams outside the USA," Goodell said in remarks to German media.

"I have no doubt that this will happen one day."

Peter O'Reilly, the NFL's executive vice president of club business and international and league events, said the league had based its international expansion on "fan data, fan engagement and strategic opportunity in the market."

"We look at where clubs are active and want to be," O'Reilly told reporters.

"That led us to Germany, then Brazil, then Spain, Ireland, France, now Australia, and then you've got a core set there.

"We look at what could be next. What are parts of the world where there are opportunities, there is fandom, there is strategic opportunity?

"And that's how we work with it internally and with the ownership committee to see where we go next."

W.Cheng--ThChM