In Week 10 of the 2023 NFL season, the Indianapolis Colts will play a road game against the New England Patriots. However, the game won’t be in Foxborough at Gillette Stadium. Instead, it’ll be at Deutsche Bank Park in Frankfurt, Germany, as part of the NFL’s International Series.
The series has shown that there’s a demand for NFL football around the globe, and this game is no different. When tickets went on sale for the game earlier this week, they were sold out just minutes later. Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk explained the demand for the two games (Dolphins vs. Chiefs) that the NFL is holding in Germany this year.
"An NFL spokesperson told Michael Silverman of the Boston Globe that 700,000 fans signed up for the opportunity to purchase tickets to the two games with another three million in a digital queue behind them."Josh Alper (Pro Football Talk)
This game is well down the road, but the Indianapolis Colts are already getting mentally prepared to travel across the world and play in a rival game against the Patriots. Team owner Jim Irsay, in a recent appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, spoke about the Colts upcoming trip to Germany, the NFL’s plan to become more of a global game, and what he’s saying to his rookie quarterback about this game.
"We couldn't be more excited about playing in Germany..
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) July 10, 2023
I believe we can eventually have a division in Europe" ~ @JimIrsay #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/kSaxxJ50Ut
Jim Irsay tells Anthony Richardson that playing Bill Belichick in Germany will be a welcome to the NFL
It’s safe to assume that Richardson will be starting by Week 10. Irsay has made it clear that he wants Richardson to get better by playing, so barring an injury, Richardson will probably be QB1 for Indy’s game against New England in Germany. That’s why Irsay joked with him that it’ll be a nice welcome to the NFL moment.
Bill Belichick-coached defenses historically feast on rookie quarterbacks. So Richardson will have to deal with a challenging Patriots defense and whatever else comes with playing in an exciting environment that’s across the world. Hopefully, Richardson would be somewhat acquainted to the league by then, and he and the Colts offense will be productive enough to give the fans in Germany a show.