NFL COMMISSIONER ROGER Goodell has says the organisation may stage a game in Ireland as early as next year. 

Speaking from Munich ahead of the city’s staging of today’s clash between the Carolina Panthers and the New York Giants – the last of this year’s games to be staged abroad – Goodell said the NFL are plotting to host as many as eight games outside of the United States next year, with Ireland under consideration. 

“We are definitely going to Spain”, Goodell told NFL network when asked about the plans for next year’s international games. “We expect to return to Mexico city, we expect to return to Brazil. 

“We will certainly be back in the UK, we are looking at the potential in another game in the UK or in Ireland, possibly. That is a possibility. And we will certainly be back here in Germany, so if that totals eight, that’s what we are shooting for.” 

There has been gathering momentum toward an NFL regular-season game in Ireland, with the Aviva Stadium regularly hosting college football games in recent years.

The Pittsburgh Steelers in particular have made a policy of tightening links with Ireland, while sports minister Catherine Martin said last month that the government are giving “active consideration” to hosting an NFL game. Junior minister Thomas Byrne added the government are in conversation with the NFL on the prospect.