MADRID — The initial batch of tickets for the first regular-season NFL game in Madrid were gone in a matter of hours, with nearly 700,000 people trying to get a seat to watch the Miami Dolphins play the Washington Commanders on Sunday at Real Madrid’s iconic Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.For the first game in Ireland last month, organizers said some 600,000 digital devices were logged on to try to buy tickets for the Pittsburgh Steelers’ game against the Minnesota Vikings at Dublin’s famed Croke Park.The demand has been similarly high in other cities hosting games in recent years, and more countries have been reaching out to the NFL. An NFL official says “probably a day doesn’t go by” without a city saying they are interested in potentially hosting a game.The host cities themselves have treated the games as their Super Bowls, with a series of promotional events and fan activities planned in the weeks ahead and high-profile artists performing at halftime. They have generated massive fan interest locally and attracted fans from nearby European countries, allowing host cities to gain financially and in visibility. Gerrit Meier, managing director and head of NFL International, said organizers went into the game in Dublin last month with “a real sense of a mini Super Bowl coming to town.”There were NFL experiences and shops brought to iconic venues, and murals an …
