Robert Kraft confirms NFL moving toward 18-game season with focus on international growth

The NFL has stretched its season once already, and it may not be done yet. Five years after adding a 17th regular-season game, the league now appears ready to take another step that could reshape professional football.

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft publicly confirmed that an 18-game season is no longer a distant idea. He said the league sees international growth as the main reason behind the move.

Robert Kraft says 18 games now inevitable as NFL eyes global market

Kraft shared his views during an interview with "98.5 The Sports Hub" in Boston. He made it clear that league owners believe the NFL has almost reached its ceiling inside the United States.

“We’re going to push like the dickens now to make international more important with us,” Kraft said on the radio show. “Part of the reason is so we can continue to grow the cap and keep our labor happy.”

Kraft added that the NFL already dominates American television. He said the league controls “93 of the top 100 programs on television,” which leaves little room for further domestic growth. That reality, according to Kraft, forces the league to look overseas.

He also confirmed that league officials already have a rough structure for an 18-game season. Under the current plan, each team would play 18 regular-season games and two preseason games. One preseason matchup would get removed.

“Every team will go to 18 and two and eliminate one of the preseason games,” Kraft said during the same interview.

The NFL first moved to a 17-game season in 2021 after the new collective bargaining agreement was approved in 2020. Since then, international games have expanded steadily. The league now plays regular-season games in London, Germany, Mexico, and Brazil, with more cities expected in the future.

Still, player safety remains the biggest obstacle. On Feb. 8, 2025, NFL Players Association executive director Lloyd Howell Jr. openly pushed back on the idea. He spoke during a media availability at the NFLPA HQs in Washington.

“No one wants to play an 18th game. No one,” Howell said. “Seventeen games is already, for many of the guys, too long.”

Howell also thinks that any real change must come through a formal process. The current collective bargaining agreement runs until March 2030. Till Then, the league cannot add games without player approval.

For now, Kraft’s comments signal intent, not a final decision. But they also confirm what many around the league already suspected. The NFL sees international markets as the next financial engine, and an 18-game season appears to be the price of that global push.


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