The NFL opened its 2023 season in Kansas City on Thursday night, but Roger Goodell made it clear he is still focused on bringing pro football overseas.

“We really see football as a global sport,” the NFL commissioner told NBC ahead of the network’s broadcast of the Detroit Lions’ shock 21-20 upset of the Chiefs.

The defending Super Bowl champions will play in the NFL’s second-ever game in Germany this fall — which sold out within minutes of tickets becoming available. It’s one of five international matchups, including a second one in Germany and three in the U.K — but the NFL doesn’t want to stop there.

“We expect to do more games in the future,” Goodell said. “We’re looking at games around the world. We believe this is our next big frontier.”

Europe has been a major focus for the NFL, which has also played games in Mexico City and recently expanded teams’ abilities to market themselves internationally. The Los Angeles Rams have even been linked to a potential game in Australia.

Europe’s Permanent Potential

One of the hottest topics of debate around the NFL’s international expansion is the viability of a permanent franchise outside the U.S. — and Goodell didn’t shy away from the prospect on Thursday. “I don’t rule out anything,” he said. “I think it’s possible.”

Ideas for a European division picked up steam earlier this year, but there still doesn’t appear to be a clear formula for tackling the logistics of an international club.

“The debate we’ve always tried to work on [is] can you do it competitively?” Goodell explained. “And do it in a way that’s going to be fair, not just to that team but every other team?”

A strong run of European games in 2023 could go a long way toward realizing Goodell’s international ambitions.

The Coach Prime hype train delivered last weekend for Colorado’s season debut against TCU — and now, the Buffaloes’ Saturday sold-out home opener against Nebraska is one of the hottest tickets in the country.

Fox will broadcast Colorado-Nebraska at noon E.T. on Saturday, and on the secondary market, Deion Sanders’ first game coaching the Buffaloes in Boulder has a get-in price more than double that of Saturday night’s high-profile matchup, No. 11 Texas at No. 3 Alabama, according to data provided to Front Office Sports by StubHub.

The cheapest ticket to see Colorado is $293, while fans can buy a seat in Tuscaloosa for $122. That price is also more than five times that of the weekend’s other major inter-conference game, No. 13 Oregon at Texas Tech, which has seats available for $49.

Colorado-Nebraska’s average resale ticket price on StubHub is $427 — almost double last week’s game at TCU.

The lure of seeing Coach Prime’s upstart squad in action will likely be in high demand throughout the fall. In the immediate days following last Saturday’s upset of TCU, Colorado sold $430,000 in single-game football tickets for this season. 

Place Your Bets

The financial benefits of the Coach Prime hype don’t stop at the box office — sportsbooks are feeling the impact, too. 

On FanDuel, Colorado-Nebraska has had the second-highest handle of any football game this week behind only the NFL’s Chiefs-Lions opener. At Caesars Sportsbook, futures bets on Colorado winning the national championship and its star players winning the Heisman represent the sportsbook’s biggest liabilities.

As the Chicago Bears kick off the 2023 NFL season hosting the division-rival Green Bay Packers at Soldier Field on Sunday, their fans can be newly optimistic about the team’s future in the city.

In a letter to season-ticket holders, Bears president Kevin Warren said the team has reengaged with the City of Chicago, reviving an idea once believed to be dead — a new, indoor stadium complex in downtown Chicago.

With a capacity of 61,500, Soldier Field is among the smallest stadiums in the NFL. Last season, the Bears were next-to-last in average game attendance (59,823), beating out only the Washington Commanders during Dan Snyder’s final season owning the club.

While other NFC North foes like the Detroit Lions celebrate sold out their season tickets, all the Bears’ home games have face-value tickets available on the team’s official website.

It’s been a whirlwind year for the Bears, who lured Warren from his post as commissioner of the Big Ten Conference to lead the team through its stadium journey. 

A former executive with the Minnesota Vikings, Warren was bullish on the Bears’ stadium plans in Arlington Heights until hitting a stalemate with local officials in the Chicago suburb. Since then, a growing list of suburbs have attempted to lure the Bears with stadium proposals, though none have gained significant traction. 

In his letter, Warren acknowledged that Arlington Heights and other municipalities were still under consideration — but the focus was pointedly on the idea of building a new stadium in the city itself.