Some news on the Bengals’ overseas prospects in the coming seasons.
The NFL continues to add international games to their schedule and the Cincinnati Bengals could be part of one in 2025. The Miami Dolphins are scheduled to be a host team for a game in Madrid, Spain and the Pittsburgh Steelers will host a game in Dublin, Ireland.
The Bengals in Dublin is unlikely, though, as the NFL has typically no scheduled divisional games for the neutral sites overseas. Division games are valuable not only for fans but also for the stadiums that host them, so don’t look for the Bengals to take on Pittsburgh in Ireland.
The Dolphins in Madrid is a real possibility, though. Miami is set to host Cincinnati this coming season and they have already been announced as the home team for the game that will take place in Spain.
When asked about the prospect of playing in that game at the NFL Owner’s Meeting, Bengals Executive Vice President Katie Blackburn offered no answers.
“We asked (the NFL) when we saw those reports, and they wouldn’t tell us anything,” Blackburn said during an interview with the Cincinnati Enquirer. “In 2025 or 2027, you could go as the home team, but the visiting team still has the opportunity to go, and it seems like the only one that would match up would be the Madrid game because of the opponent. We don’t know. We’ll find out when they announce it.”
Blackburn did say that she expects the Bengals to host an international game in 2027, but did not say where that game is expected to be.
“We still should be a home team (internationally) in 2027,” Blackburn said.
The NFL schedule was released on May 15th last year and the league is expected to follow that same timeline this year, so we are a little over a month away from finding out if Zac Taylor and Co. will be flying out to play on the international stage.
