Pittsburgh, PA - The National Football League will play regular-season games in Germany and Mexico within five years if Pittsburgh Steelers president Art Rooney II has his way.

Rooney, among the owners on the NFL's International Committee, said in a posting on the team's website that he thinks the expansion of the league's global exposure will come by 2020. "If I had to put a timetable on it, I would be disappointed if we don't have games in those two countries within the next five years," Rooney said.

The NFL already plays multiple games each season in London, where there is talk of a possible franchise. London will host three games this year, giving the city 14 since 2007. But Rooney dimmed the hopes that England might see its own NFL team any time soon. "I don't envision a lot of movement of franchises to other countries, that's for sure," Rooney said. "There's a possibility of a franchise in London at some point, and while there's certainly a developing interest there, that still has a ways to go to become a reality."

The NFL's Buffalo Bills have also played regular-season games in Canada. But Mexico and Germany has shown enough support for the NFL to put themselves on the list. "The audience in those two countries, there are enough NFL fans in both to support a game," Rooney said. "So it's really a matter of being able to put together a stadium situation that would work well for us, as well as a broadcasting and digital media-style programming so the games can be broadcast in those countries as well being played there."

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said last week that Germany, Mexico and Brazil were under consideration as game sites.

"There's a growing passion for our game on a global basis and we want to respond to that in the right way, in the right markets," Goodell said. "We are excited about where we are."

But the host nation for last year's FIFA World Cup and next year's Olympics is not atop the NFL list.

"Brazil is the one I would say is the newest discussion, and my guess is there will have to be a little longer lead time in developing that," Rooney said.

The Steelers played Indianapolis at Mexico City in a 2000 pre-season game.

"We would love to play another game in Mexico at some point," Rooney said.

One day, that might also include Asia, Rooney hinted, citing Seoul-born former Steelers' star Hines Ward, whose mother is South Korean.

"When Hines Ward was on our team, we obviously had a bit of a growing following in South Korea," Rooney said. "We did have some conversations about trying to play a game over there at one point, which would have been fun. Now that Hines has retired, I'm not sure that’s still on the drawing board, but it just shows you there are opportunities that can develop and it's fun to look at them and consider them and try to develop some interest."