Falcons named home team for NFL Madrid matchup as league finalizes global schedule
The Atlanta Falcons are headed to Spain. The NFL announced Tuesday that they’re the designated home team for the league’s second game in Madrid.
The league did not confirm a date for the Falcons’ Spain debut.
With Tuesday’s announcement, the NFL has announced at least one team in each of its league-record nine international games for next season.
The Jacksonville Jaguars are hosting two games in London, where the Washington Commanders will also be a home team; the New Orleans Saints will play in Paris; the Dallas Cowboys are headed to Rio de Janeiro; the San Francisco 49ers headline a game in Mexico City; and the Detroit Lions will play in Munich.
The 49ers will also be the away team as the Los Angeles Rams host the first NFL game in Melbourne, Australia.
The upcoming Madrid game will be played at Bernabeu — the home of famed soccer club Real Madrid — for a second straight season. The Commanders lost an overtime game to the Miami Dolphins at the stadium last year.
“The passion for the NFL in Spain is at an all‑time high,” NFL Country Manager Rafa De Los Santos said in a news release. “I’m sure the Falcons will enjoy competing in such an iconic stadium as the Bernabeu, in one of the world’s great sporting capitals, Madrid, and that fans will once again experience firsthand the intensity, speed, and talent that make the NFL unique.”
The NFL has not confirmed the away team for most of its upcoming global games, including the one in Madrid. The league will trickle out that information in May ahead of the full schedule release.