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Touchdown in Brazil: 2024 regular-season game marks international milestone
Dec 13, 2023, 2:25 pm
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.
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The New York Jets interviewed Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith and Houston Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik for their head coach position Thursday.
The meetings with Smith and Slowik gave the Jets 12 known candidates with whom they've spoken about their vacancy.
New York has also interviewed Aaron Glenn, Vance Joseph, Mike Locksley, Matt Nagy, Ron Rivera, Darren Rizzi, Rex Ryan, Steve Spagnuolo, Jeff Ulbrich and Mike Vrabel for the job. Vrabel has since been hired by New England as its coach.
Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores and Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley are also expected to meet soon with the Jets.
The 42-year-old Smith, who was the Atlanta Falcons' head coach from 2021-23, was considered one of the Jets' top candidates in 2021 when he interviewed with the team before New York hired Robert Saleh. Smith was hired by the Falcons the next day and went 21-30, with three straight 7-10 finishes, before being fired after the 2023 season.
Mike Tomlin hired Smith last offseason to run the Steelers' offense, which improved in several categories this season with Russell Wilson at quarterback as Pittsburgh made the playoffs.
Smith spent 10 years with Tennessee, including the last two as the Titans' offensive coordinator in 2019 and 2020. He previously had a stint with Washington as its defensive quality control coach in between college stops at North Carolina (2006) and Mississippi (2010).
The 37-year-old Slowik met with the Jets in a video interview since the Texans remain in the playoffs and are preparing to face the Chiefs in Kansas City on Saturday.
He's in his second year running the Texans' offense with quarterback C.J. Stroud, who was last season's AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and has been one of the league's most dynamic young playmakers.
Slowik, whose father Bob coaches in the CFL after several years as an NFL assistant, spent six years as an assistant under Kyle Shanahan in San Francisco before joining the Texans. The Princeton, New Jersey, native started his pro coaching career as a video assistant for Washington in 2010 before being promoted to defensive assistant, a role he held for three years. Slowik then worked at Pro Football Focus as a senior analyst for three years before being hired by the 49ers.
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