“It’s Not Good”: Commanders Owner Josh Harris on Playing a Home Game in London

Nine international games spanning four continents is bound to help the NFL as it tries to increase its foothold on the world market. But every single one of these trips in the 2026 season takes a toll on the ‘home’ teams. Before the Washington Commanders played the Indianapolis Colts in London for their Week 4 clash, Commanders owner Josh Harris hosted around 2,000 fans at a London pub. There, he was asked how the “economics” of this trip works for them as a home team playing away from home, and he made it clear exactly where he stands on it.

“It’s not good. But you know, again, it’s bad in a lot of ways,” Harris said on Saturday, per Sportico. “But I’m not so much focused on economics. Honestly, I’m focused on being part of the NFL community, growing the international game, doing what is asked of us. And then, most of all, creating a great experience for our players and our fans if we’re here. And then winning the game, beating the Colts. We’ve got to beat the Colts.”

Now, facing the Colts didn’t exactly go as planned. Backup quarterback Marcus Mariota aggravated his preseason MCL sprain, forcing the Commanders to hand the reins to third-string rookie quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis. While he did try to make plays, Athan struggled to complete throws and ultimately lost the game 30-13. For Josh Harris, the blow of watching his team drop to 1-3 on the season may have been softened if he was actually getting out of the game.

If this Week 4 game had been played at Northwest Stadium instead of Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the Commanders would have kept most of the ticket sale money. But since it’s an overseas trip, the league will only pay them the travel, equipment, and accommodation expenses. At the end of the day, it just becomes an act of engagement and global outreach, a sentiment shared by team president Mark Clouse.

“I would describe it as an investment in the future of the league and the team,” Clouse said, per Sportico. “That’s the way we have to look at it.”

Interestingly enough, had the Commanders gotten a slice of the pie here, they’d still have come up short. While some tickets were marked as high as $325, in the days leading up to the game, those prices got slashed down to as low as $105. This was done in order to sell out the stadium – given the poor engagement compared to previous seasons – but caused a lot of backlash from fans who’d paid the full price early on.

Going back to the economics of the team that Josh Harris spoke about, Clouse doubled down on this trip being an investment on the team’s future, and a way to see “more of our fans excited about travelling.” But in the same interview, he also highlighted that this isn’t something they can control.

“You really don’t have a choice,” Clouse said, per Sportico. “The NFL literally just says to you, ‘You’re a good team, everyone wants to watch you, you’re an exciting team, you’re going to London.’ It’s not your choice, so what you try to do is make it a great experience for your fans, your community and your players.”

The Commanders aren’t alone in this either, as their divisional rivals – the Dallas Cowboys – also faced something similar in their matchup with the Baltimore Ravens in Rio. Ahead of that game, Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones also lamented a lost home game, even though he agreed with the international expansion.

“Well, you pay a price,” Jones said on 105.3 The Fan. “But that’s the price we’re paying to create and sustain the interest internationally. And that creates a lot of interest in television. That gives us another place to show our games during the Sunday morning of the week. And so all of this is good. I’m in complete agreement with how we’re developing and doing our international games. But I don’t like it when it takes one of your home games away. That’s no good.”

With the league pushing for an even bigger international slate in the coming seasons, it’ll be interesting to see if they come up with a way to give something back to the home teams. But for now, the teams can only look at this from a perspective of market growth.

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