The NFL is saying “Ola!” from Brazil in Week 1, as the Eagles and Packers kick off their 2024 regular seasons with a matchup down in São Paulo as a part of the 2024 NFL international series.
Philadelphia and Green Bay are playing in the first-ever NFL game in the country. While the league has frequented other places such as England, Germany, and Mexico, Brazil gets its first taste of in-person NFL action on Friday night.
It’s an opportunity for the league to show its product to a new audience that typically only can consume the NFL by traveling to the United States or watching through the television/screen. It’s also a chance for the players to play in a new stadium.
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Corinthians Arena is the site for the NFL Brazil game. It’s home to Corinthians FC, a professional soccer club that plays in Brazil’s highest professional league.
At times, the concern with playing overseas at different stadiums is that the playing surface may provide issues for the two football teams. That shouldn’t be the case for the Eagles and Packers, who might actually feel right at home in Corinthians Arena.
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Sometimes when NFL teams go outside of the country, either the stadiums have to modify their playing surface for American football, or the two teams simply have to deal with the different grass or turf.
However, when it comes to Corinthians Arena, it’s going to be a familiar feel for both the Eagles and the Packers.
The playing surface at Corinthians Arena uses GrassMaster, which is a product that combines perennial Ryegrass with artificial fibers. It’s essentially a fancy version of real grass mixed with elements of turf fibers, as opposed to using strictly turf.
There are currently only two stadiums in the NFL that use that same material for their playing surfaces — Lincoln Financial Field, home of the Eagles, and Lambeau Field, home of the Packers.
Corinthians Arena, also called Neo Quimica Arena, is capable of holding up to 47,252 attendees, according to FIFA.
The stadium has filled up beyond capacity in the past, most recently in 2014, when it hosted 63,237 spectators for Argentina’s 0-0 draw with Netherlands in the FIFA World Cup semifinals. However, more often than not, the Aníbal Coutinho-designed venue houses around 40,000-50,000 viewers.
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Once again, the NFL will be playing five international games in 2024 –– with three games in London, one in Germany, and one in São Paulo.
Date | Game | Location | Time (ET) | TV channel |
Friday, Sept. 6 (Week 1) | Eagles vs. Packers | Arena Corinthians, São Paulo | 8:15 p.m. | Peacock |
Sunday, Oct. 6 (Week 5) | Jets vs. Vikings | Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London | 9:30 a.m. | NFL Network |
Sunday, Oct. 13 (Week 6) |
Jaguars vs. Bears | Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London | 9:30 a.m. | NFL Network |
Sunday, Oct. 20 (Week 7) | Patriots vs. Jaguars | Wembley Stadium, London | 9:30 a.m. | NFL Network |
Sunday, Nov. 10 (Week 10) | Giants vs. Panthers | Allianz Arena, Munich | 9:30 a.m. | NFL Network |
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