Eagles To Play In First NFL Game In Brazil

The Philadelphia Eagles will be part of the NFL’s first regular season game in São Paolo, Brazil, on September 6, the day after opening kickoff on Thursday night, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announced.

This game holds great significance in the NFL for two reasons.

First, it’s that this will be the NFL’s first Friday game on the opening weekend of the season since the St. Louis Cardinals played the Los Angeles Rams on a Friday night for the 1970 season opener 54 years ago.

Second, it’s that the NFL international series has now expanded to six countries, with games previously being played at various locations in Britain, Canada, Mexico, Germany, Japan and now Brazil. There’s talk that Goodell and the NFL could be targeting Spain as a potential location for the 2024-25 season as well.

The game will be hosted in Corinthians Arena, which hosts over 49,000 fans and was host to several World Cup matches in 2014. That won’t be enough seats to host the 38 million NFL fans in Brazil with “increased” interest though, according to NFL.com.

“We are just incredibly enthusiastic about our growth on a global basis,” Goodell said. “We are convinced we can be a global sport in the near future. Our ownership has committed to allow more games to be played on an annual basis, on a global basis. We are excited about the fans’ reaction and our media partners. I think this is a great opportunity for the league and we are committed to making it a global sport.”

As a home game for the Eagles, they will be playing against one of their pre-determined home opponents for the 2024-25 season, which are the Dallas Cowboys, Washington Commanders, New York Giants, Green Bay Packers, Cleveland Browns, Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, Jacksonville Jaguars and Pittsburgh Steelers.

Owners in the NFL passed a resolution in the fall compelling each team to play at least one international game every four years. It’s likely that São Paolo isn’t at the end of Goodell’s plans.