Will the Cincinnati Bengals be traveling overseas to play in Spain next season? Don’t ask the team, they don’t know the answer to that popular question either.
Rumors began to swirl early this year when the mayor of Madrid, Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida Navasques, reportedly said the Miami Dolphins will host the Bengals in a game at the iconic Bernabeu Stadium in November.
Bengals executive vice president Katie Blackburn said that while she’s heard the rumors, the team has yet to be informed if they are playing overseas.
“We asked (the NFL) when we saw those reports and they wouldn’t tell us anything,” Blackburn said at the NFL’s annual league meetings. “In 2025 or 2027, you could go as the home team, but the visiting team still has the opportunity to go, and it seems like the only one that would match up would be the Madrid game because of the opponent. We don’t know. We’ll find out when they announce it.”
NFL international games in 2025
The NFL announced the Dolphins were chosen as the home team in Madrid. Cincinnati is one of Miami’s nine scheduled home opponents. So, it very well could be the Bengals picked to play the Dolphins in Madrid instead of Miami.
Mike North, the NFL’s vice president of broadcasting and planning, also is unaware if the Bengals will be the Dolphins’ opponent for the league’s first game in Spain.
“Definitely a candidate,” North told Geof Hobbson of Bengals.com. “Little premature to announce that. I don't know how he knows if we don't know yet.”
Joe Burrow response to possibly playing Dolphins in Madrid
There seems to be a lot of uncertainty across the board if the team has yet to be informed and a league executive in charge of scheduling doesn't know either. But the possibility, and interest from franchise quarterback Joe Burrow in making it happen, certainly makes it a hot topic as the schedule release nears closer.
“Bengals v. Dolphins in Madrid?” Burrow wrote on his Instagram Story on March 18. “Please be true.”
The Bengals and their fan base will get their answer soon. Next up on the NFL’s offseason calendar is the draft on April 24-26 and shortly after it will be the highly anticipated schedule release. Last year, the schedule was released on May 15 and the league is expected to follow a similar timeline this year.
Bengals also could play Steelers in Dublin
Spain isn’t the only possibility of an international game for the Bengals. While it seems unlikely the league would place an important division game overseas, the Pittsburgh Steelers are the host team for the NFL’s first game in Ireland this year. The Bengals will play the Steelers in a home and away series as they always do leaving the door open for a potential AFC North showdown in Dublin.
Typically, the NFL has stayed away from taking a division home game away from teams, but that doesn’t mean it can’t happen.
If the Bengals don’t play in Ireland or Spain as a road team this year, they will be heading overseas soon. Cincinnati is expected to be a host team for an international game in 2027, according to Blackburn.
“We still should be a home team ...
