The NFL is poised to potentially award a regular-season game to Brazil in the 2024 season, according to a source close to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Discussions surrounding the expansion of the NFL’s international series have been ongoing at the owners’ meetings in Dallas this week, and a decision on holding a game in Brazil in 2024 may be reached as early as Wednesday.
In October, Commissioner Roger Goodell mentioned the possibility of adding another international location “as early as next year.” Earlier this year, league officials scouted potential locations in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, and Madrid for hosting regular-season games.
Spain is also under consideration for a regular-season game in 2025, with Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, the home of Real Madrid, being discussed as a possible venue. Although the NFL has never played a regular-season game in Brazil or Spain, there has been significant interest, and the league’s executive vice president, Peter O’Reilly, noted earlier this year that the NFL was actively engaging with these markets.
The NFL’s global markets program designates the Chicago Bears and Miami Dolphins with commercial rights in Spain, while the Dolphins hold exclusive rights in Brazil. The league’s aggressive international push involves adding a 17th game to the schedule, facilitating games abroad, and providing teams with marketing rights in various countries. In the past year, the NFL played three regular-season games in London and two in Frankfurt, Germany, with even hints at a possibility of a future Super Bowl in London.
The league is expected to make it a requirement for all 32 franchises to play an international game at least once over a four year period. The official vote is expected on Wednesday at the NFL’s meeting in Irving, Texas. Increased numbers of international games could give the league another source of revenue, if international games and broadcasts were to be sold as a separate package.