It announced it on Friday (26) an agreement to make at least three matches of the regular season over the next five years. The first game in the carioca capital will be in 2026. Times, date and time will be announced in the coming months.
The agreement to the League landing again in the country was signed earlier this week. The NFL held regular season matches in Itaquera, in 2024 (Packers X Eagles) and 2025 (Chiefs x Chargers), both with an audience of 47,000 fans. Thus, the state capital will be left out of NFL’s international script next year.
“Continuing the success of the games in Sao Paulo, we could not be more excited to play in one of the most iconic cities in the world: Rio de Janeiro,” said NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. “We look forward to working closely with our municipal and state partners in Rio, along with the historic Maracanã stadium, to deepen our ties with tens of millions of fans in and throughout South America.”
“The National Football League Multiannual partnership with Rio, a vibrant city where people want to be, is a perfect match,” said the mayor of Rio ,. “It will be a historic event, as the NFL games will be included in the official calendar of our city. I look forward to watching a football game in Maracanã, the most iconic temple of world football.”
“We are pleased to announce that the Maracanã stadium will host a NFL regular season game next year in Rio de Janeiro,” said the RJ governor ,. “Brazil is today the second largest consumer of football outside the United States, and thousands of tourists and sports fans dream of experiencing this event at the world’s most famous stadium. Bringing NFL to Rio is a milestone that will boost tourism, create jobs, stimulate the economy and show the strength of our state as an international sports destination.”
NFL has already organized 56 regular season matches outside the United States, with games played in Frankfurt, London, Mexico City, Munich, Sao Paulo and Toronto. This year, the league will still take matches to Dublin, London, Berlin and Madrid. In 2026, Melbourne, Australia, will also receive an official confrontation for the first time.
*With information from Estadão Content
Posted by Nicolas Robert
