The Raiders Must Play Internationally in 2027; Could The Site Be Tokyo?

While they are still hoping to salvage a 2026 playoff berth despite being in the midst of a losing streak that reached four games with Sunday's 35-21 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, it's never too early for the Las Vegas Raiders to start planning ahead, specifically in regards to making sure their passports are in order prior to the start of the 2027 season.

The NFL has a rule that says every franchise is required to play an international "home" game at least once every eight years. The rationale behind this mandate is ensuring that the international series is shared equitably across all 32 teams rather than forcing foreign travel on the same few franchises every season.

Since the Raiders last played on foreign soil in 2019 - a 24-21 defeat of the Chicago Bears in London, England's Wembley Stadium - they will be required to pack their bags at some point in 2027.

Where that destination will actually be, however, is still to be determined, though the options may be expanding, which also includes the number of NFL games overseas growing from nine this season to 11 in 2027.

The majority of NFL regular-season games that have been played abroad had traditionally been contained to London or Mexico City, Mexico. However, in recent years, the itinerary has expanded, with games added in Germany, Spain, Brazil and Ireland, with Paris, France, and Melbourne, Australia - the league's first foray Down Under as the NFL continues to implement its plan to aggressively plant its flag in every corner of the globe - joining the docket this season.

On Oct. 21, Albert Beer of Sports Illustrated, as reported by Scott Polacek of Bleacher Report, identified some possible sites for future international-game expansion:

"[S]ome teams love the idea of going to Italy next, but that may not happen until new stadiums open in Milan (2030) and Rome (2031), ahead of the 2032 Euros," Breer wrote. "Then there's the idea the NFL's Peter O'Reilly raised of playing in new cities in countries the league's already been to, like potentially Manchester in the U.K., Barcelona (which has a stadium under renovation) in Spain, or Sydney in Australia."

Most intriguing would be the NFL's first regular-season game in Asia, specifically Tokyo, Japan, which O'Reilly, the league's executive vice president of club business and international and league events, recently hinted at.

The NFL has a long history of playing exhibition games in Japan, with the first of the Super Bowl era coming 50 years ago in 1976 when two teams that technically don't exist anymore - the St. Louis Cardinals and San Diego Chargers - played a preseason game at Korakuen Stadium in Tokyo.

From 1989-2005, the NFL scheduled 13 preseason games in Japan in 17 years, with 12 taking place in the Tokyo Dome and one held at the Osaka Dome in Osaka. The Oakland Raiders were involved in one of those games in Tokyo, dropping a 19-17 decision to the Miami Dolphins in 1991.

Though the Raiders haven't played overseas since 2019 - with the "Las Vegas" version of the franchise having not yet appeared in an international game - there was a period when they were quite frequent flyers, with a game at Wembley in 2014 and four straight foreign trips from 2016-19, with two in Mexico City and two in London.

In those five international contests, the Raiders have gone 2-3 with wins over the Bears and Houston Texans (2016), and losses to the Dolphins (2014), New England Patriots (2017) and Seattle Seahawks (2018).