The NFL says it’s “all systems go” as it prepares to make its historic debut in Paris on Sunday amid ongoing unrest around the French capital.
The New Orleans Saints will serve as the designated home team when they honor their French ties against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the home opener of the regular season at the Stade de France, live on Sky Sports NFL from 13:00.
It comes after civil unrest erupted across Paris over the weekend, as peaceful protests were overshadowed by masked activists and vandals turning to violence and looting.
Brett Gosper, the NFL’s head of Europe and Asia-Pacific, said the league prioritizes the safety of fans and the two traveling teams, but does not foresee any disruption to the game.
“It hasn’t affected it, but obviously we’re keeping a close eye on it and we’re in constant daily contact with the French authorities about it,” Gosper said. Sky Sports.
“We’re not looking at our events being disrupted at this point in time and we certainly don’t think the game will be disrupted. So we’re all systems go for this Sunday.”
Juwan Johnson said this week that some family members were undecided about making the trip to Paris, while Steelers safety Jaquan Brisker described the scenes in France as “crazy.”
“Obviously, the safety of fans and players is the top priority and we will not put anyone at risk in that sense, so the information we receive is very important,” Gosper added. “And right now, it shows that things are good for us going into this game the right way.”
The French connection
New Orleans’ connection with France dates back to 1718 when the city was founded by the French as La Nouvelle-Orléans, before becoming the capital of French Louisiana in 1722. It was two French engineers who would lay out the first 66 squares of a walled village that later became the iconic French Quarter.
The city would retain its French DNA during the 40 years of Spanish rule, learning in French and adopting French culture. Even today, New Orleans celebrates Bastille Day in honor of its French roots.
“There’s a great alignment of culture and history between the Saints hosting a game here in the French market, of course,” Gosper said. “It’s something that hasn’t gone unnoticed by the French public. At every level, they know the connection.
“It’s not like you have to be a France history buff to understand that connection. It’s understandable and it’s great for the Saints. They’re the only team at the moment operating in the global market program, at the moment that makes them the France team or the French team.
“It definitely creates a stronger engagement with the population of France and it’s likely that many people will adopt the Saints as their club. We know the fans may be NFL fans, but really passionate and passionate fans like to pick a team, so that’s the role the Saints are playing right now in transforming those NFL fans into loyal club fans for the Saints.”
As the Saints strengthen their French ties, the NFL is very tasked with translating an excited French Quarter Mardis Gras feel into game week. It may not be quite Bourbon Street, but NOLA is coming to town.
“We will see a lot of Louisiana and Saints touches in the stadium, there will also be many other ceremonial activities put in place by the league to highlight the fact that this is a special first game in France,” Gosper said. “These games, while they look a lot like NFL games and mini Super Bowls in each market, they have their own personality because of what the home fans bring to the picture.
“Melbourne is not the same as Munich, which is not going to be the same as Paris, which is not the same as London. They are all special because of the different personalities that the home fans bring to these games.”
The NBA has been a familiar feature on the French sports landscape having played five regular season games in Paris since 2020, with two more scheduled throughout 2027 and 2028.
Now it’s the NFL’s turn to test its newest market amid a record nine international games being played in 2026, with Paris joining Melbourne and Rio de Janeiro as debut cities.
“What’s good is that we know the French love all their sports,” Gosper said. “They love their rugby, they love their basketball, they love their football. There’s room for the NFL, too.
The French embrace all sports, American sports, local sports, and they are very passionate about it, and that gives us comfort and optimism for the future that we will have here.”
What else for the NFL globally?
It arrives on the back of three consecutive UK games at Tottenham Hotspur and Wembley Stadium, the latter two of which were decided by last-second field goals in two of the NFL’s biggest international games.
“It’s been great,” Gosper said. The games themselves in the UK have been great, but I’d say the NFL’s impact on London during that period cannot go unnoticed.
“We probably had more impact this year than we’ve had in years, and there’s going to be more next year. London really embraces the NFL.”
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Dublin is not part of this year’s international schedule after making history in 2025 when the Steelers took on the Minnesota Vikings in Croke Park, but is expected to return as hosts.
“We can’t announce any of our schedules for next year yet, but generally we don’t go play a game in a market and not come back,” Gosper said.
“There would be optimism that sometime in the near future Dublin will be back on our radar. I think that’s the good news in terms of Dublin.
“And similarly in France, we would like to come back here at some point. That decision has not been made either. These are markets that we are here to develop in the medium to long term, and we don’t want to just play a game and disappear.
“We’ve looked at a number of international markets, we’ve determined that there are about 12 markets that are of high interest to us across a number of criteria. The size of sports fans within the general population, the number of fans that we have, but also where we see potential broadcast revenue over time and commercial revenue over time. At some point our investment has to be returned, so that’s kind of an important criteria of market interest for it.
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Gosper added that the NFL is in talks with markets in Asia for future games as the league explores the task of building an audience in the face of challenging time zones.
For now, the immediate focus is Paris, where Gosper will return to familiar ground at the Stade de France after his days as World Rugby chief executive.
“I was there when France won the World Cup in 1998. I go back that long,” he said. “I was actually in the stadium that day and how it transformed France’s idea of itself as a footballing nation.
“Obviously, there’s been the Rugby World Cup and the Olympics there, so some big events. It’ll be great to see the NFL host a game there as well.
“It’s the missing piece that Stade de France hasn’t done yet. Great for the history of Stade de France and great for the history of the NFL.
“It’s very special for all of us to be involved in a first like this and bring it to a big market. This game will resonate far beyond France itself.”
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