NFL teams that host Super Bowls must also play London games

NFL teams – and especially good ones – don’t like giving up home games. That’s a problem for the league as it looks to showcase teams overseas in its annual London games.

So the NFL has come up with an ingenious solution: If you want to play host to a Super Bowl, you’ve got to be in the London rotation.

At their annual fall meetings last week, team owners voted to require teams that host Super Bowls to surrender one home game in the next five seasons so that team can play in London, according to a report by Daniel Kaplan of the Sports Business Journal.

The report said the Minnesota Vikings are exempt from that rule because they are currently playing in a temporary venue while their new stadium is being built. The Vikings will play host to Super Bowl LII in 2018.

As an additional incentive, teams that play in London will also receive $1 million and will be reimbursed any lost revenues from having seven (instead of eight) home games.