The Dolphins have no plans to travel abroad in 2024, but there’s a good chance they will travel to places the NFL has never been before in 2025.
The NFL announced Friday that 2025 regular season games will be held in Madrid. This landmark match will take place at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, the home of Real Madrid and the former home of Cristiano Ronaldo.
League officials said the Dolphins could play in that game or a game in Brazil. The Dolphins have territorial rights to Brazil, but the league announced this week that the Philadelphia Eagles will be the designated team to play in Brazil in 2024. Opponents have not been announced.
However, the Dolphins and Chicago Bears also have international marketing rights in Spain as part of the NFL’s Global Markets Program. The program grants rights to clubs in markets outside the United States to increase brand awareness.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said: “Bringing the game to Madrid in 2025 reflects the league’s continued expansion of its global footprint and our ambition to bring our games to more fans around the world. “This highlights the fact that this trend is accelerating.”
Stephen Ross, Miami Dolphins linked to Real Madrid
The Dolphins already have ties to Real Madrid. Owner Stephen Ross and vice-chairman Tom Garfinkel forged that relationship and pulled off a coup in 2017 by arranging a preseason friendly between Real Madrid and Lionel Messi and Barcelona at a packed Hard Rock Stadium. Ta. This will be the second time El Clasico, known as a fierce competition around the world, will be held outside Spain.
Asked how he convinced Barcelona and Real Madrid to come to Miami in 2017, Ross said: “We got to know them personally, so they put their trust in us. They approached me and I told them I was going to do something really special.”
So perhaps next year the Dolphins will return the favor by visiting the approximately 85,000-seat Bernabeau.
“The arrival of the National Football League at the Santiago Bernabéu is a major event in the history of the sport,” said Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez. “This strategic alliance between Real Madrid and the NFL’s prestigious organization will elevate our brand globally. It will be enthusiastically welcomed by millions of people on all continents. I am honored to embark on this journey with you.”
Madrid is the first new market confirmed to host the 2025 international competition. It will be the fourth city in Europe to host an NFL regular season game, following London, Munich and Frankfurt, where the Dolphins lost to Kansas City in October.
“With the arrival of the NFL in Madrid, we will become host to the most important league in the world,” said Madrid Mayor José Luis Martínez Almeida.
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This year’s game against Brazil has been assigned to the Eagles, and combined with other announcements regarding games in London and Munich, it is almost certain that the Dolphins will not travel overseas this season. Jacksonville will be the only designated international team Miami will play in 2024, but it will be played at Hard Rock Stadium as the Dolphins will play the home team against the Jaguars.
The NFL’s regular season is 17 games, so teams will alternate between unbalanced home and away schedules each year, at least until or if the league moves to an 18-game schedule. In 2024, the Dolphins are scheduled to play eight home games and nine away games, so all international games this year will be removed from the road schedule to avoid limiting Miami season ticket holders to only seven games. It would have needed to be removed.
If the Dolphins play nine home games next year, that would be fine.
Forgoing one of these home dates would also give the Dolphins a chance to pick up points in the league for a future Super Bowl appearance.
Dolphins reporter Hal Habib can be reached at: hhabib@pbpost.com. Follow him on social media @gunnerhal. Click here to subscribe.