NFL Brazil Every American Football Game Played So Far

The NFL has played exactly three regular-season games in Brazil, and each one broke a record the previous game set. The first, in September 2024, was the league’s debut in South America. The second, a year later, drew a larger crowd to the same São Paulo stadium and became the first NFL game ever streamed free on YouTube. The third, in September 2026, moved to Rio de Janeiro’s Maracanã and outdrew every football match the famous stadium hosted that year, including Flamengo’s home fixtures. The league spent decades treating London as its only foreign outpost; Brazil has become the test case for whether American football can build a lasting audience outside the United States.

São Paulo 2024: Eagles 34, Packers 29

The inaugural game kicked off on Friday, 6 September 2024, at Neo Química Arena in Itaquera, the home of Sport Club Corinthians. The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Green Bay Packers 34-29 in a game that stayed close until the final minutes. Saquon Barkley, playing his first game for Philadelphia after leaving the New York Giants, scored three touchdowns. The crowd of 47,236 filled the converted soccer stadium with noise levels that surprised several Eagles players in post-game interviews.

The local context mattered as much as the score. Corinthians asked attendees not to wear green, the color of their bitter rival Palmeiras. Some Packers fans ignored the request and wore their team’s green jerseys anyway, a small culture clash the Associated Press reported from the stands. The stadium configuration left the field looking slightly cramped by NFL standards, with the end zones shortened to fit the soccer pitch dimensions. Nobody complained. Brazilian fans had watched NFL games at 2 a.m. on cable for decades; seeing a live regular-season game in their own city outweighed the compromises.

São Paulo 2025: Chargers 27, Chiefs 21

The NFL returned to Neo Química Arena on Friday, 5 September 2025, with the Los Angeles Chargers facing the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chargers won 27-21, and attendance ticked up slightly to 47,627. Justin Herbert completed 28 of 37 passes for 318 yards and three touchdowns, outplaying Patrick Mahomes in a result few predicted.

The more significant development happened off the field. The NFL streamed the entire game free on its official YouTube channel, with a separate Brazilian Portuguese commentary feed available on CazéTV, the streaming platform run by Brazilian influencer Casimiro Miguel. This was not a trial run for a small market. The NFL chose Brazil for its first free global stream of a regular-season game, treating the country as a growth opportunity. The CazéTV partnership signaled that the league understood where Brazilian sports fans actually watch content. Traditional broadcast television reaches older audiences in Brazil, while YouTube and CazéTV reach the demographic the NFL wants.

Rio de Janeiro 2026: Ravens 34, Cowboys 31

On Sunday, 27 September 2026, the NFL moved to Maracanã Stadium for the first time. The Baltimore Ravens beat the Dallas Cowboys 34-31 on a 56-yard field goal by Tyler Loop as time expired. The crowd of 72,792 set the attendance record for any sporting event at Maracanã in 2026, surpassing the 72,481 who watched Flamengo play Cruzeiro in a domestic league match earlier that year.

The venue change was the story. Maracanã holds more than 78,000 for soccer, and the NFL configuration seated fewer than that, but 72,792 still represented a dramatic jump from the São Paulo crowds. The stadium’s history added weight. Built for the 1950 World Cup final, renovated for the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics, Maracanã carries a symbolic importance in Brazilian culture that Neo Química Arena cannot match. The NFL’s choice to place a game there, and the record crowd that followed, suggested that Brazilian interest in American football had moved beyond novelty into something more durable.

The game itself helped. Loop’s 56-yard kick, the longest field goal in an NFL international game at that point, gave the Ravens a dramatic finish that replayed on Brazilian sports news for days. The Cowboys, the NFL’s most recognizable brand, lost in the final seconds. Drama travels.

The record so far

Date	Teams	Score	Venue	Crowd
Fri, 6 Sep 2024	Philadelphia Eagles vs. Green Bay Packers	Eagles 34, Packers 29	Neo Química Arena, São Paulo	47,236
Fri, 5 Sep 2025	Los Angeles Chargers vs. Kansas City Chiefs	Chargers 27, Chiefs 21	Neo Química Arena, São Paulo	47,627
Sun, 27 Sep 2026	Baltimore Ravens vs. Dallas Cowboys	Ravens 34, Cowboys 31	Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro	72,792

What comes next

On 26 September 2025, the NFL announced a commitment of at least three regular-season games in Rio de Janeiro over five years, beginning with the 2026 Ravens-Cowboys matchup. All games under this agreement will be held at Maracanã. The league cites a Brazilian fan base of more than 36 million people as the rationale for the investment.

As of November 2026, the specific opponents and dates for the remaining Rio games had not been announced. The NFL typically releases its full international schedule in the northern spring, with tickets following months later. Fans looking for confirmed information should monitor NFL.com and the league’s Brazilian social media accounts, which post updates in Portuguese. The CazéTV partnership from 2025 suggests that streaming options will continue, though whether future games remain free on YouTube depends on viewing figures and advertising performance from the 2025 experiment.

For travelers considering a trip around an NFL game in Brazil, the practical details have shifted with the move to Rio. Neo Química Arena sits in Itaquera, at the eastern edge of São Paulo’s metropolitan area, reachable by the Lilac Line of the metro but requiring patience on match days. Maracanã is more central, adjacent to the Maracanã metro station on Rio’s heavy rail network, with more hotel and restaurant options within walking distance. Ticket prices for the 2026 game ranged from approximately R$ 400 to R$ 2,800 depending on seat location, based on the announced tiers. Future pricing will depend on the matchup and demand.

The NFL’s Brazilian experiment has moved fast: from a single game in a São Paulo soccer stadium to a multi-year commitment in Rio’s most famous venue in just over two years. Whether that pace continues depends on whether the 36 million claimed fans convert into consistent ticket buyers and television viewers. The early returns suggest they might.