RIO DE JANEIRO – The National Football League is planning to bring a game to Rio de Janeiro in 2026, marking the first time Brazil’s “Marvelous City” will host an NFL contest. sources indicate the league is targeting Rio after staging its first two games in Brazil at São Paulo’s Morumbi Stadium.
The move expands the NFL’s international footprint and aims to capitalize on growing fan interest in the sport within Brazil.Maracanã Stadium, which hosted the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2016 Olympic Games and holds over 70,000 spectators, is expected to be the venue. The NFL has previously scheduled its Brazil games on Fridays during Week 1 to accommodate Labor Day weekend in the United states. Though, with Labor Day falling on September 7th in 2026 and the league traditionally beginning its season on the second Thursday of September, a new date for the Rio game will need to be steadfast.This year’s game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Los Angeles Chargers in São Paulo benefited from improvements to the playing surface. Unlike the 2023 game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers, which saw players struggle with traction on the soccer-specific field, the 2025 contest was played on a newly installed hybrid rye and synthetic grass surface. The NFL invested in upgrading the field by renewing the synthetic fibers this summer to ensure it could withstand the demands of an NFL game.
