The Philadelphia Eagles of American football's NFL have been announced as the home team for the league’s first-ever game to be hosted in South America.
The regular-season fixture will be held in the city of Sao Paulo on Friday, September 6, 2024, the opening weekend of the season, at the 49,205-capacity Corinthians Arena, which is known as the Neo Quimica Arena for sponsorship reasons.
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The Eagles will be the designated “home” team for the game, which will also be the first to be held on the Friday night of the season’s opening weekend since 1970.
The NFL unveiled its first-ever Brazil fixture in mid-December, as part of an announcement that the overall number of International Games in 2024 will increase to eight.
The opening weekend is one of the most important for TV audiences of the NFL season, consistently boasting strong viewership.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell stated that the decision to play the game on the first week of the season uniquely highlights the league’s “international growth and ambitions.”
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By GlobalDataRicardo Nunes, the mayor of Sao Paulo, added: “The league's decision to play the game in the first week of the NFL 2024 season is a true testament to their confidence in our work as host city."
He continued: “Having this historic spectacle on the eve of [Brazilian] Independence Day and driving a great economic impact and job creation for São Paulo, will spotlight our city as a globally relevant destination for the world's most exciting sport and entertainment events."
International marketing rights for Brazil distributed under the NFL’s international markets program are held by the Miami Dolphins franchise, with the Eagles not holding any international marketing rights.
Despite this, the Dolphins franchise has played abroad more than all but one other team in the league, including in the 2023 season, while the Eagles have not played abroad since the 2018 season, which is a likely reason for the decision to have them play at home in Brazil over the Dolphins.
Eagles chair and chief executive Jeffrey Lurie stated: “With the global growth of our sport being a top priority to our league, we embrace the opportunity to grow our fanbase around the world and bring Eagles football to the 38 million sports fans in Brazil.”
The Eagles are the fifth and final of the designated home teams to be announced for the five games of the 2024 NFL international series. Three of these games will be played in London, England, with the Jacksonville Jaguars, Minnesota Vikings, and Chicago Bears all hosting one each, while the Carolina Panthers will act as the home side for a game in Munich, Germany.
The opposing franchises for the five games have yet to be revealed.
The finale of the 2023-24 NFL season, Super Bowl 58, takes place on Sunday, February 11.
