PACK YOUR BAGS!

Touchdown in Brazil: 2024 regular-season game marks international milestone

Touchdown in Brazil: 2024 regular-season game marks international milestone
The NFL is coming to Brazil. Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images.

The NFL will play a regular-season game in Brazil in 2024, the first in South America in the latest expansion of the league's rapidly growing international plan.

The league said Wednesday at the owners meetings in the Dallas area the game will be played at Arena Corinthians in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The stadium has a capacity of nearly 50,000 and was a venue for the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics.

The NFL played its first two regular-season games in Frankfurt, Germany, this year, with three more in London. There are five planned for 2024 as well, three in London to go with games in Germany and Brazil.

At the December owners meetings two years ago, the league designated home marketing rights for teams in various countries as part of a strategy to build fan growth internationally. Miami is the only team with such rights in Brazil.

“Bringing the NFL to new continents, countries and cities around the world is a critical element of our plan to continue to grow the game globally,” Commissioner Roger Goodell said.

Sao Paulo Mayor Ricardo Nunes led the Brazilian contingent that made a presentation to owners, and smiled widely as he held a football during a news conference.

“The right choice was made,” Nunes said through a translator.

The NFL also will expand to up to eight international games starting in 2025, with Spain and a return to Mexico among the possibilities.

Most Popular

SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome

Listen Live

ESPN Houston 97.5 FM
Yordan Alvarez is still having issues with his hand. Composite Getty Image.

Houston Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez has experienced a setback in his recovery from a broken right hand and will see a specialist.

Astros general manager Dana Brown said Alvarez felt pain when he arrived Tuesday at the team's spring training complex in West Palm Beach, Florida, where he had a workout a day earlier. Alvarez also took batting practice Saturday at Daikin Park.

He will be shut down until he's evaluated by the specialist.

“It’s a tough time going through this with Yordan, but I know that he’s still feeling pain and the soreness in his hand,” Brown said before Tuesday night's series opener at Colorado. “We’re not going to try to push it or force him through anything. We're just going to allow him to heal and get a little bit more answers as to what steps we take next.”

Alvarez has been sidelined for nearly two months. The injury was initially diagnosed as a muscle strain, but when Alvarez felt pain again while hitting in late May, imaging revealed a small fracture.

The 28-year-old outfielder, who has hit 31 homers or more in each of the past four seasons, had been eyeing a return as soon as this weekend at the Los Angeles Dodgers. Now it's uncertain when he'll play.

“We felt like he was close because he had felt so good of late,” Brown said, “but this is certainly news that we didn't want.”

You can watch Brown discuss the setback in the video below.

Also Tuesday, the Astros officially placed shortstop Jeremy Peña on the 10-day injured list with a fractured rib and recalled infielder Shay Whitcomb from Triple-A Sugar Land.

SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome