The road to the Superbowl will go through Madrid

This year’s Super Bowl LVIII will be played at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada on Sunday, February 11, 2024 and, with the end of the NFL regular season in sight, the playoffs are just around the corner.

To become NFL champion and win a Superbowl ring is the goal of every player at the beginning of the season. After a 17-game regular season, it’s time for the decisive moment in the playoffs. The best teams in the NFL face each other with one goal in mind: the Super Bowl Lombardi trophy.

There are a total of 32 teams in the NFL, 16 in each conference, AFC and NFC, made up of 4 divisions of 4teams each: North, South, East and West. In each conference, a total of 7 teams qualify for the playoffs, with 6 playing in the Wildcard Round in both the AFC and NFC.

Teams now look to finish as high as possible within their conference as the top-ranked team from each conference will skip a round and have a week’s rest before heading into the divisional round. The top-ranked teams will face the lowest-ranked teams in the first round with home-field advantage.

As things stand the teams likely to clinch a playoff spot are: San Francisco 49ers, Dallas Cowboys,Philadelphia Eagles and Baltimore Ravens. Also in the running are: Baltimore Ravens, Miami Dolphins,Jacksonville Jaguars and Kansas City Chiefs (last year’s Superbowl winners).

Once the playoffs are finished the 2 conference champions meet in the Super Bowl.

NFL in Spain

In Spain there is growing interest in the sport with Madrid likely to host an NFL game in 2025. “We’re going to look at the opportunities we have to host Madrid in the future; we’re excited to bring that to fruition”, Peter O’Reilly, executive vice president of the NFL told the NFL’s official website.

The possibility of Madrid hosting a regular-season NFL game for the first time is growing because the owners of the NFL’s 32 teams agreed that, starting in 2025, up to 8 games a year could be played outside the United States.

The NFL has played regular-season games outside the United States since the 2005 season. Since that date, 50 regular season international games have been played; 36 in London, England; six in Toronto, Canada; five in Mexico City; two in Frankfurt and one in Munich, Germany.

According to the NFL website, in addition to Spain, France is another potential destination that has caught the league’s attention.