Diamondbacks at Rangers updates. Alek Thomas replacement stays at 9th
Ryan Waldschmidt remains in the 9th spot for the Diamondbacks against the Rangers.
The NFL will host nine international games in the 2026 season, prompting J.J. Watt to criticize the trend as excessive. He likened the international game slate to a 'traveling circus' rather than a special event.
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Credit: Kirby Lee - USA Today Sports; The Pat McAfee Show
The NFL this week announced a nine-game slate of international games for the 2026 season, featuring games from Melbourne to Munich, and JJ Watt is sounding the alarm.
The CBS NFL analyst took to social media on Wednesday to call out what he sees as an excessive tilt toward overseas games, writing āinternational game slate is nearing the realm of traveling circus as opposed occasional showcase.ā
The Jacksonville Jaguars have for several years played multiple games in London each season. This year, the San Francisco 49ers play in Australia in Week 1 and Mexico City in Week 11, a fact that head coach Kyle Shanahan publicly complained about during the offseason.
While games are often scheduled to give teams extra time for travel on either or both ends of the trip (the Ninersā Week 1 game, for example, is on a Friday morning), the burden is obviously more significant than a routine cross-country trip.
Responding to Wattās post on X, Baltimore Ravens linebacker Kyle Van Noy wrote that global expansion āis all they care about.ā
āItās all they care about in my opinion because itās the biggest growth which means money. YouTube , Amazon, and all the streaming services are global,ā he wrote. āThey going for it all JJ! Will be interesting seeing the game in the future where Iām sure teams will play multiple games overseas.ā
J.J. Watt criticized the NFL's expanded international slate, calling it a 'traveling circus' due to its excessive nature.
The NFL plans to host nine international games across seven countries in the 2026 season.
The Jacksonville Jaguars have played multiple games in London, and the San Francisco 49ers will play in Australia and Mexico City in 2026.
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Watt has become a vocal advocate for players since joining theĀ NFL on CBS crew. In this case, his simple reminder of the NFLās original stated intent behind overseas games speaks volumes.
The league increasingly appears to playing in countries where it wants to create new fans, rather than purely regions where it is already popular. And as the league also pushes for an 18th game on the schedule and more revenue from its TV partners, the embrace of faraway markets may lead to further backlash from players and coaches.
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