Murphy indicated that the Steelers are likely to ask the NFL to keep that matchup in Pittsburgh.
Last week at the NFL’s annual meeting, the Green Bay Packers were awarded international marketing rights in a few countries, one of which is the Republic of Ireland. Another team with those same rights in Ireland is the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the two teams are set to play one another in 2025, with the Steelers as the home team. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh has already been announced as the home team for a regular season NFL game in Ireland in the fall.
As a result, many — including yours truly — speculated that this meant the Packers would be a shoo-in to be the Steelers’ opponent in that Ireland game. But it seems the cart is getting a bit ahead of the horse.
Instead, it appears that teams have the ability to protect certain home games from being sent overseas — or at least to make a request of the NFL to that effect. And Packers president and CEO Mark Murphy expects the Steelers to make such a request of the league in regards to their game against Green Bay this season.
Murphy told as much to fans and reporters during the Packers’ Tailgate Tour on Tuesday, according to radio host Bill Michaels, saying that the Steelers will “most likely” protect the Packers game.
The Packers are no stranger to having their games protected from being sent overseas by prospective home teams, however. Green Bay was famously the last NFL team to make a trip to London, finally going across the Atlantic Ocean for the first time in 2022. That was the case in large part because many road opponents protected Packers games in the past to avoid giving up the boost in revenue that comes with hosting the Packers’ well-traveling fan base.
It seems that will be the case again this season, and European Packers fans may indeed have to wait at least one more year before seeing the green and gold make their next visit.
