photo courtesy Alyssa Powell/Bl-Getty Images
Fans of the NFL and NCAA Football love to watch their Americanized game. For years, American fans have been the ones who built this sport into what it is today.
Somewhere along the line, that all changed starting in 2005, when the NFL decided to host its first regular-season game overseas. Now, the NFL plans to host a record 10 International games in 2027, up from nine this upcoming season.
NCAA football has started to get into the mix of scheduling week 0 regular-season games internationally. In 2027, Wake Forest and Syracuse will kick off in Toronto before Syracuse plays Penn State in Week 1.
While most fans believe that both the NFL and NCAA Football should play only games in America, there seems to be a double standard when the NCAA does so, and the NFL follows.
How does the Double Standard affect both Levels of American Football?
It seems like the NFL fans think that adding more international games takes away a home game from their area. Additionally, they think the NFL is globalizing the game and alienating those American fans who helped build the league. Recognizing that many of the 32 league owners are billionaires who also work hard to continue growing the game internationally puts more money in their own pockets.
While in the NFL, adding more international games is the end of the world, it seems at least acceptable at the NCAA level.
On July 1, College Football will mark five years into the NIL ERA, and unlike the NFL, there are basically no rules governing it as a direct pay-for-play scheme. College Football programs, especially in the Power Four conferences, will go out of their way now to schedule any contest dictated by NIL money.
But when finding out that Wake Forest and Syracuse would be playing in Toronto next year, fans were singing a different tune. Instead of people being upset that a home game was taken away from Wake Forest, both fan bases labeled it a positive.
It was designated as a home game for the Orange in Canada, and it’s a way for both programs to earn NIL money now that the ACC and other major conferences are playing 9 conference games, up from 8.
Why the Selective Outrage when NFL is adding more International Games similar to NCAA Football?
Maybe because the NFL is run by commissioner Roger Goodell. Since taking office in 2026, Goodell has put in excessive guardrails to try to make football a safer game. At the same time, he’s the same commissioner who, when it came to extending the season to 17 games from 16, made it about prioritizing the owner’s special interests over player safety.
Meanwhile in College, the president of the NCAA is Charlie Baker. Unlike Goodell, Baker runs more of a free for all when it comes to transfer portal, and NIL. But hardly anyone criticizes him for the fact that college football competes with the NFL now for ratings.
Both levels seem to agree that having a playoff system is the best way to determine an end of the season champion (RIP BCS system forever). However, it’s funny that in the NFL, when Goodell has developed a negative reputation. adding more international games is ruining making the game America First.
When Charlie Baker, who has a more positive reputation, schedules international games for college teams, fans may see it as a way to increase NIL revenue for both teams.
Final Assessment
The bottom line is both Goodell and Baker know that adding international games is good for business and it lines up the pockets of both the owners and the athletic deparments in their respective sport. Even with the double standard between the evilness of the NFL scheudling these games, and the rightousness of the NCAA, us fans are going to continue to watch because it means more football on both Saturdays and Sundays.
