Rich Eisen’s Message to Anyone Critical of the NFL’s International Games Schedule

Ajouté : 2026-05-18

[00:00:00]Speaking of going overseas or into seas or just trying to make the transition from Bermuda to the international games that have been announced.

[00:00:11]There's a lot a lot a lot of international game slander going on.

[00:00:17]Lot of IGS.

[00:00:19]>> [laughter] >> International game slander going on.

[00:00:25]Nine games being played outside of the United States of America. Overseas in London three games, Paris has now been added to Madrid and Germany.

[00:00:40]Mexico City's back in the mix. Rio de Janeiro puts Brazil back in the mix and it all starts in Melbourne, Australia.

[00:00:50]Okay. All starts >> [snorts] >> with the game in Melbourne that's going to start the season essentially on a Wednesday.

[00:01:04]Melbourne Niners Rams first stop.

[00:01:07]Then the Brazilians in Rio. What a party that's going to be. Gets to see Ravens Cowboys.

[00:01:15]Then we go to London.

[00:01:17]I love Ralph. Then we go to London.

[00:01:18]Three games in London.

[00:01:21]Uh Colts and Commanders in London.

[00:01:26]Yeah. Yeah.

[00:01:28]That's going to go down in Tottenham.

[00:01:31]Then in Tottenham you got the Eagles and the Jaguars.

[00:01:35]Huh? Let's go Jags. The Doug Peterson Bowl. Right. Right.

[00:01:39]>> Doug Peterson.

[00:01:39]>> Peterson. Peterson.

[00:01:41]There in London.

[00:01:43]And then the Jaguars stay put. Jaguars.

[00:01:46]Mhm. Advantage.

[00:01:46]>> And they get to if this goes down by the way, I'm assuming if you put that up one more time the the international game schedule. It is in Wembley, you bet. So Tottenham gets the first two and then Wembley, which is the stadium that Shad Khan owns, the Jaguars, like their home stadium.

[00:02:04]Um, that's a pretty massive football game.

[00:02:08]>> Mhm. Texans and Jaguars.

[00:02:12]Okay?

[00:02:13]And the Jaguars will have the benefit of already being on the time zone. Yeah. They'll already be there for a week.

[00:02:20]>> Used to the food, used to the time.

[00:02:21]>> Damn it. I mean, Paris, man. Good lord.

[00:02:24]Bonjour. Aaron Rodgers and a croissant.

[00:02:27]Let's go.

[00:02:28]>> [laughter] >> The French quarter going just straight to France. The The Saints in Paris.

[00:02:33]>> New Orleans Saints in Paris. Taking on >> Well, Howard in Paris.

[00:02:37]>> Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers.

[00:02:39]>> Bonjour. Okay? Je m'appelle >> You know what I mean?

[00:02:42]Let's go.

[00:02:43]Bengals and Falcons in Madrid.

[00:02:46]>> That's pretty fun. Right. Munich, which is an outstanding location for NFL games.

[00:02:53]I know, I kind of want >> Patriots I want to go to Paris.

[00:02:56]>> [laughter] >> That should be a good one, too. Mexico City, the Vikings, and then there's the Niners, once again.

[00:03:03]Listen.

[00:03:05]The international game slander.

[00:03:07]I >> Slandering Rich? Oh, people are.

[00:03:10]>> Yeah. I'm seeing it all over the place.

[00:03:12]>> And I will just say this.

[00:03:14]>> Sadly. As somebody who's called a ton of international games for NFL Network. Mhm.

[00:03:21]And I've been there and done that.

[00:03:25]The players and the coaches don't like it.

[00:03:29]I understand they don't like it because it's a business trip. We all as fans go there and it's not a business trip. It's a It's a party. It's let's go hang out. Let's go here. Let's go there.

[00:03:41]The players in London are in hotels that are way outside of town. Yep. So, they're not going into town. They're not going into London. And if they do go into London to see their families, it is a long-ass haul. And it's it's it's a displacement. And coaches aren't terribly happy about it, either. Because it is the ultimate of what you can't control. You cannot control the fact that the NFL and owners want to export the game around the world for business purposes.

[00:04:16]And you have to go along, and you are now going to be taken out of your comfort zone of either a home game or you're traveling, and now you're going way further than any road game, most likely.

[00:04:35]Although, Philadelphia to Seattle is similar from Philadelphia to London.

[00:04:40]True.

[00:04:41]Houston to London is not anything comparable to the what wherever they travel in the United States at all.

[00:04:49]Just as a for instance, right?

[00:04:52]And so I get that.

[00:04:55]I totally understand that.

[00:04:58]That players and coaches just want to control what they can control, and it's their schedule, and it's their ability to practice in their home.

[00:05:08]And some teams decide to go at the last minute.

[00:05:12]And tell them, "Players, get your rest on the plane, and then get your rest here, and then let's play the game, and let's go home." And if they poop the bed there, then they'll hear from all of us in the media, "Boy, you made a mistake.

[00:05:23]You should have gone there earlier."

[00:05:25]Well, I mean, you go there earlier to get used to the time zone, then you're practicing in facilities that are not your own.

[00:05:31]You know?

[00:05:33]Jacksonville's going to be away from home for 2 weeks, and they're home games.

[00:05:38]So, I understand the way players and coaches feel about it.

[00:05:42]But in terms of the experience of being there and playing in these games, once the game starts for the players and the coaches, it feels like a Super Bowl. I'm telling everybody.

[00:05:55]In Munich, when Brady and the Bucks showed up against Pete Carroll and the Seahawks that year and Geno Smith, both guys, Carroll and Brady, went to the podium and said that this atmosphere was like the Super Bowl.

[00:06:11]And those guys, you know, have played a Super Bowl against each other. It's unreal. The fans cannot get enough of it.

[00:06:19]Cannot get enough of it, and it's not expats living abroad solely. As a matter of fact, in Germany, those are die-hard football fans.

[00:06:31]Big time. I'm not kidding.

[00:06:33]The people I would meet The people at Let's just put it this way.

[00:06:38]There were the fans that I spoke to, um, in Germany, from the from the field to the stands, cuz I'm a man of the people.

[00:06:47]Um, sounded more like Sprockets than Mike Myers.

[00:06:52]>> [laughter] >> To use a an SNL pop culture reference from back in the day.

[00:06:59]All right.

[00:07:01]And fans that I met who were Americans were coming from the Middle East, Africa, to get to Germany. It's a It's a close It's a It's closer to go there than it is to London.

[00:07:13]People would be taking trains from all around Europe to get to Munich.

[00:07:18]Spectacular. I was not in Madrid. I heard it was unbelievable. Paris is going to be lit, and that is a phrase that I use purposefully, cuz you know, it's the city of lights.

[00:07:30]Listen, it's going to be incredible.

[00:07:34]The NFL in Paris is going to be nuts.

[00:07:37]>> [snorts] >> And the NFL in Rio, the NFL in Paris, the NFL in Madrid, the NFL in Munich, the NFL in Melbourne, the NFL in Mexico City is what the NFL should be doing.

[00:07:54]It's what they should be doing. They have to do this sort of stuff. It's a It's a a connected world in which we live. The other sports are already connected to those continents because it's it's easier for, you know, uh humans to play basketball and hockey in coming to the United States than the other than football to the United States. So, they're exporting it and they're selling the sport places.

[00:08:19]And, you know, I understand fans are like, "Really? Okay, I I It doesn't matter to me. I just need my fantasy update. I just need to be entertained on a Sunday.

[00:08:32]I'm going to be sitting on the couch. I don't care that it's in this spot or that spot." And the players might be like, "Really? I've got to The 49ers are going to be We're doing a segment on this solely in hour three.

[00:08:45]The 49ers are going to close in on 40,000 mi traveled this year.

[00:08:50]So, I totally get it that the players are like, "Really?"

[00:08:54]But, you know, we're raising all boats here. I know five of these games are on NFL Network, and I work for NFL Network.

[00:09:03]I'm not caping for it just because of that. I've been there. It's incredible.

[00:09:09]Incredible. And they connect with fans in a way that is valuable.

[00:09:14]And if it raises all boats, I'm telling you, the idea here at some point is to, you know, I'm not taking the games off NFL Network, but it's to it's to sell a package.

[00:09:27]And everybody's going to play in Get used to it. There's a an international series game in weeks 1 3 4 5 6 7 9 10 and 11. We're almost there. Oh, yeah.

[00:09:36]We're going to have one every week.

[00:09:37]>> So we're missing weeks two and eight.

[00:09:41]Weeks two and eight.

[00:09:43]In the first 11 weeks are the only weeks without an international series game.

[00:09:48]We're almost there. And I understand why there isn't one in week two.

[00:09:54]Because if you're opening on the road, right?

[00:10:00]And you're then going to go international?

[00:10:03]That's almost impossible. And if you're opening at home, you're going to go on the road in week two. That means somebody's home debut is on the road.

[00:10:14]In week two, it it it's very difficult to do that. That's why they put Melbourne in week one, so the Niners and Rams can go way earlier and then having an entire week and a half for them to come back and and play in week two. And I I'm I'd be surprised if if the Niners and the Rams are on the road in week two. I think they're both going to be in Los Angeles and San Fran Santa Clara.

[00:10:38]Um I get I I understand why players and coaches are uh cuz I've interviewed them. I'm in I'm in broadcast meetings. And the first 15 minutes is always talking to a coach or a player. It's just like, "Did you get your rest? What's your philosophy about traveling? Do you like your facility? What's going on here? Are are are players going back and forth into town? Have they seen their families? You know, hey Jacksonville. Hey Liam Cohen, two weeks. You're going to be here for two weeks. Like what about that?" And and so I get it. It is a logistical problem, nightmare, um inconvenience, whatever adjective you want to use.

[00:11:20]But in the business of the sport, it is indispensable. It is unbelievable.

[00:11:26]If you are a fan, and I know ticket prices are through the roof now these days, and I'm not referring to um the seats in the stadium. I'm referring to the seats in a plane.

[00:11:40]It's expensive. I totally understand that. If you can afford it and you can get off of work and you can get into a plane and make a weekend or a week out of it, memories. Yeah. Absolute memories. And I hope your team doesn't get blown out cuz that sucks. But it's unreal. Mhm.

[00:11:59]The atmosphere on light it's as close to a college atmosphere as you'll see. And if you watch any of these Premier League games, you're like, "Wow, these fans are going nuts in the stands." It's a lot like that. It really is.

[00:12:13]So.

[00:12:16]That's my opinion of the International Series games.

[00:12:21]>> [sighs and gasps] >> You know, it's funny, too, Richie.

[00:12:23]Brockman I can confirm we both made friends with people when we were over there in Germany from other countries that we still DM and keep in touch with.

[00:12:33]>> saying.

[00:12:33]>> these are It's great.

[00:12:34]>> People love it. We We got to do man-on-the-street interviews when we were there.

[00:12:38]>> fun.

[00:12:38]>> People everything you said and more.

[00:12:41]Yeah. Really is. And we did a show from Munich couple years ago, right?

[00:12:45]>> Yeah, two seasons ago. And did a show from London last year, but the Munich game if you go to the beer gardens in Munich on the Saturday before the game, it's unreal.

[00:12:57]And you'll see fans in all 32 NFL jerseys. Yep. For real.

[00:13:03]Really well. And you'll see some throwback players that >> Yeah, I know. thought of. We always had fun with the games cuz, you know, some someone would show up in a Kurt Warner Rams jersey, Giants jersey, Cardinals jersey, Amsterdam Admirals jersey.

[00:13:17]>> [laughter] >> The only thing missing was a Northern of the Northern Iowa jersey.

[00:13:21]>> Northern Iowa.

[00:13:22]And then someone would show up in a Seattle Seahawks Kurt Warner jersey, but not that Kurt Warner, the their Kurt Warner. We'll have fun with fun with that.

[00:13:33]It really is awesome.

[00:13:35]And I I I I I'm always going to cape for the international series games, always. Hey, you made it all the way to the end.

[00:13:42]Thanks for that. Check us out every single day streaming live on Disney Plus and the ESPN app 12 to 3 Eastern.