NFL to play regular season game in Brazil during 2024 season, announces SB LXI to be played in Los Angeles
By Samuel Joseph, CNN
(CNN) — Football continues to go global.
The National Football League (NFL) announced on Wednesday that São Paulo, Brazil, will host a regular season game in 2024, the first ever in South America.
According to NFL.com, the league has 38 million fans in Brazil, where the sport is popular among younger fans thanks to a strong social media presence.
The game will take place in the 49,000-seat Corinthians Stadium, usually the home of Brazilian top-flight soccer club Corinthians.
The NFL’s 2024 international slate includes four games in addition to the Brazil fixture.
The Jacksonville Jaguars have an agreement (outside of the league’s deal with overseas stadiums) to play at Wembley Stadium in London, while the English capital will also host two games at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Munich’s Allianz Arena – home to soccer giant Bayern Munich – will also host a game.
São Paulo was selected over Madrid, though the Spanish capital has not been ruled out as a future destination for the NFL.
“The good news is both are really viable and interested in hosting games,” said Peter O’Reilly, the NFL’s executive vice president of club business, international and league events.
“Pending having the opportunity to play in Madrid and Brazil in the future, we would be excited to do that. The reason we went first with Brazil really ties to going to a new continent for the first time, into South America for the first time for the regular season.”
Spain’s opportunity could come as soon as 2025, as the NFL teams voted on Wednesday to increase the amount of international games per season from that year.
The resolution requires each team to play a game overseas every four years, which means that the NFL could schedule up to eight games abroad (not including the Jaguars agreement) every season.
This also provides the league with the opportunity to return to Mexico City, which last hosted a game in 2022.
Super Bowl heads back to LA in 2027
The December League Meeting also saw team owners vote for Super Bowl LXI in February 2027 to be held in SoFi Stadium in Inglewood California.
It will be the second time that the stadium – home of the Los Angeles Rams – has hosted the Super Bowl in a five-year span. In 2022, the Rams took down the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 and became only the second team in NFL history to win the Super Bowl on their home field.
“The city did an outstanding job hosting Super Bowl 56 in the incredible SoFi Stadium and we believe that Super Bowl 61 will be even more memorable,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement.
It will be the ninth time that Super Bowl is held in the greater LA area, per NFL.com.
The-CNN-Wire
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