Acme Packing Company
The NFL announced on Friday that it will be expanding its slate of Brazilian games moving forward. According to the press release from the league, the NFL will now be playing at least three games per season in Rio de Janeiro over the next five years.
Previously, the league had only played games in São Paulo, beginning with the Green Bay Packers’ loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 1 of the 2024 season. Moving forward, the NFL will be playing games at Maracanã Stadium, a 78,838-capacity stadium, about 30,000 more than São Paulo’s Arena Corinthians. Maracanã Stadium is the home of soccer clubs Flamengo and Fluminense.
The NFL’s continued expansion outside of North America does not seem to be stopping anytime soon. The league is already playing games in Germany and the United Kingdom. This year, they will debut in Ireland and Spain. Next year, the NFL will play its first game in Australia.
The only international market that the league seems to have backed off from is Mexico, as they played four games in the country from 2016 to 2022, but have yet to return since then. Everywhere else, it seems full steam ahead.
