Roger Goodell envisions more overseas games, more streaming and more cities hosting the NFL draft

DETROIT (AP) — NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said Thursday night at the draft that he envisions a dramatic increase in international games in the coming years.

“I honestly think we’ll be playing 16 games internationally if you go 10 years out,” Goodell said during a TV interview on ESPN. “I think we’ll try to get to eight or nine in the next couple years.”

The league will play three games in England, one game in Germany, and one game in Brazil in 2024.

“The reaction we’re getting from the fans every time we play in a new market is incredible,” Goodell said, “so we’ll continue to play in London, we’ll continue to play in Germany and I hope continue to play in Brazil. We’ll be back in Mexico, but there are a lot of other markets that — obviously, we’re going to go to Spain next year, we’ve already planned that — but there are a lot of markets that want us to play there and we’re actively looking at all those, exploring that.”

Goodell also said streaming is here to stay.

“As you know, we go for the broadest possible distribution we can. We want to make our games available to the widest audience we possibly can," Goodell said. "But also I think the streaming platforms give us more interaction. There are more opportunities to do alternative broadcasts. There’s more interaction for the fans if they want that interaction.

"So we’ve been incredibly happy with our Thursday night package on Amazon Prime. YouTube had our Sunday Ticket this year. Again, tremendous growth, and I think the fans really enjoyed it. And in each of those platforms, our average age of our audience went down eight to 10 years. So that’s where a lot of people are that we need to reach, and that’s why we’re investing in it.”

Goodell also said the league will continue to rotate the draft through different cities as it has since 2015 when the draft was moved out of New York City. The only exception was 2020, which was virtual because of the pandemic.

This year’s draft was held in Detroit. Next year’s will be in Green Bay.

“We have a lot of communities that want to have the draft, and I think we’ll continue to try to move this around and share it with other communities and bring the fans, but we always try to innovate something new every year,” Goodell said.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL

NFL football commissioner Roger Goodell addresses the crowd before the start of a Play Football Prospect Clinic with Special Olympics athletes, Wednesday, April 24, 2024 in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

TAINAN, Taiwan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 5, 2024--

The solo exhibition of renowned artist "Baiyu" Bo-Xi Lin is being held at the Venice Biennale from April 19th to July 7th. A highlight of the exhibit was his creation of a painting titled "Fish Swim Boundlessly, Dragon Dance with Half a Cup of Fragrance," designed specifically for aging wine submerged underwater by Taiwan's Haiquan Industrial Co., Ltd. The artwork showcased the perfect combination of aging wine underwater and the painting, with the painting's motifs incorporated into the wine label, creating a seamless fusion and offering a beautiful interpretation of art and fine wine.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240425300978/en/

Baiyu is an internationally acclaimed artist who has created and exhibited his works in residences in locations such as Liège, Belgium; Paris, France; Valencia, Spain; Milan, Italy; and London, United Kingdom. He was also honored as a lifetime honorary professor at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Liège, Belgium, becoming the first Taiwanese artist to hold a solo exhibition at the Monza Palace in Milan in 2019. In 2022, he established the "Wu Gu" art movement, which has garnered enthusiastic responses in Europe.

Being someone who loves the ocean and appreciates wine, Baiyu decided to combine his art with this gift from nature and share it with the world, hoping to let more people experience the gentle embrace of the sea.

Hong-Wen,Zhang, the Chairman of Haiquan, stated that aging wine underwater is a uniquely matured wine in underwater cellars, a process that is time-consuming and meticulous. From wine selection, wax sealing, and placement at depths of at least 20 meters in the sea, the wine bottles undergo the regular swaying of ocean currents, the low temperature, and negative pressure of the seabed, and natural attachment by shellfish. Aging wine underwater is not only a beverage but also an art piece naturally formed in the depths of the sea.

Within two days of the opening of the Venice Biennale, the collaborative wine edition of "Fish Swim Boundlessly, Dragon Dance with Half a Cup of Fragrance" and aging wine underwater has already sparked enthusiastic responses locally. Pre-orders have reached 3,000 sets, becoming a coveted collector's item among art enthusiasts.

(Photo: Business Wire)