NFL CONFIRMS FIRST EVER GAME IN SAO PAULO, BRAZIL, HOSTED BY THE PHILADELPHIA EAGLES
The NFL will have its first ever regular season game hosted in Brazil later this year, league commissioner Roger Goodell told reporters during his opening night Super Bowl week press conference on Monday.
Last year’s Super Bowl runners up, the Philadelphia Eagles will be the host of the first ever NFL game in South America, which is scheduled to be played at the Neo Quimica Arena in Sao Paulo. The Neo Quimica Arena, one of the best stadiums in the country, isn’t new to international sports spectacles as it was also used in the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Olympics.
Also called the Arena Corinthians, the stadium is the home of Brazilian soccer club, SC Corinthians Paulista, and has a seating capacity of 47,252.
Eagles Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Jeffrey Lurie, said their organization is “honored” to be chosen to play in what is a historic game for the NFL. He said in a statement released by the team: “With the global growth of our sport being a top priority to our league, we embrace the opportunity to grow our fan base around the world and bring Eagles football to the 38 million sports fans in Brazil.”
“One of the world’s most culturally diverse nations, Brazil is an international melting pot, and we look forward to experiencing its warm, vibrant and welcoming environment later this year.”
The game is scheduled for Friday, September 6th, the day after the regular season opener and could see the Eagles play one of; the Cowboys, Giants, Commanders, Browns, Falcons, Jaguars, Steelers, Packers and Panthers.
“Brazil is new for us this year,” said Goodell. “We are incredibly excited. We are going to do it on our kickoff weekend, which is an unusual approach and different than we’ve ever done. We, actually, are going to play it on Friday night of our kickoff weekend.”
“So, we’ll have Thursday night as our kickoff game. [And then] Friday night we’ll come back from Brazil in Sao Paulo, the Philadelphia Eagles will be the host team in Sao Paulo. And then we’ll come back with Sunday night and Monday night, and then obviously a great group of games on Sunday afternoon with our two partners [CBS and FOX].”
With Brazil’s addition to the schedule, the NFL will now, for the second year in a row, have five international games during the regular season.
The Chicago Bears, Minnesota Vikings, and Jacksonville Jaguars are the designated teams that are scheduled to play a game in London in 2024, with the Jaguars hosting one of their regular season games at Wembley Stadium. The Bears and Vikings will play at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, although it is still yet to be confirmed if either team will be hosting. The lone Germany game in 2024 will feature the Carolina Panthers who are designated to play at the Allianz Arena in Munich, at the home of FC Bayern Munich.
The move to have a game in Brazil is the latest move by the NFL to add to its international package of games. Sao Paulo was chosen over Madrid as the league’s new market with the NFL expected to consider the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, home of Real Madrid CF as the host stadium or the Wanda Metropolitano, home of Atletico Madrid. A league official did not rule out the Spanish capital in the future, however, as a quote in December confirmed that Madrid could still host a game as early as 2025.
The first ever game played on Brazilian soil will also be the first time the NFL has played an opening-week Friday night game since the Los Angeles Rams defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 34-13 on Friday, Sept. 18th 1970 in the first game of the 1970 season, following the AFL-NFL merger.
   On what having the game in Brazil does for the league, Commissioner Roger Goodell said: “We think this is giving us an ability to access more fans, not just here in the States, but on a global basis.”
-Maher Abucheri
Twitter: @pabloikonyero
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