The Detroit Lions aren’t getting any international games this year but they are benefiting from the overseas schedule.
As expected, the Detroit Lions officially will not play an international game for the 2024 NFL season. The NFL released the international schedule on Wednesday morning, and here is the official slate for games overseas this year.
Week 1 — Packers
at Eagles – Sao Paulo, Brazil
Week 5 — Jets at Vikings — London, England
Week 6 — Jaguars at Bears — London, England
Week 7 — Patriots at Jaguars – London, England
Week 10 — Giants at Panthers — Munich, Germany
While the Lions aren’t playing overseas this year, they certainly are impacted by the international schedule. As you may have noticed all three other NFC North teams are on this year’s international slate. The Packers kick off the season in Brazil, while the Bears and Vikings will both play in London.
That’s clearly a benefit to the Lions for a few reasons. For one, traveling internationally in the middle of the season can be a slog. Green Bay opens the season on a Friday, so they’ll have a couple extra days of rest before their Week 2 matchup, and both the Vikings and the Bears are likely to have their bye week after their international game. Still, it’s a pretty big hassle that could impact the team.
Perhaps more notable, though, is the fact that both the Vikings and Bears are losing one of their nine home games for the 2024 season (the Packers’ international game is an “away” game. Lucky them.). That should not be overlooked. As bad as the Bears were last year, they were much better at home (5-3) than they were away (2-7). The Vikings were the opposite (2-6 at home, 5-4 away), but typically have a much stronger home performance (13-4 the previous two years).
That said, it’s only a matter of time before the Lions will be playing overseas again. They haven’t played an international game since 2015 and team president Rod Wood believes they’ll be picked soon enough.
“We’re going to play one, I assume, in the next year or two. We’re kinda overdue,” Wood said.