The Eagles will open the 2024 season with a Friday night game in Brazil, Commissioner Roger Goodell said during his conversation with the media in Las Vegas.
This will be the first NFL game in South America and the first Friday NFL season opener since Sept. 18, 1970, when the Rams beat the Cards 34-13 at the Los Angeles Coliseum.
The match will be held on September 6 at the Arena Corinthians in Sao Paulo, which has a capacity of 47,252 spectators. It is the home stadium of the Sport Club Corinthians Paulista football team, and was used for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and for football at the 2016 Olympic Games.
The Eagles' opponent and kickoff time will be announced at a later date.
“The Eagles are honored to have been selected to play in the first-ever National Football League game in South America,” Jeffrey Lurie said in a statement.
“With the global growth of our sport a top priority for our soccer league, we embrace the opportunity to grow our fan base around the world and introduce Eagles soccer to Brazil’s 38 million sports fans. Brazil is one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world, an international melting pot, and we We look forward to experiencing its warm, vibrant and welcoming environment later this year.
This will be considered an Eagles home game. They are scheduled to play nine home games in 2024, so they will still have eight regular season games in the Lynk. Their road opponents in 2024 in addition to their three divisional matchups are the Falcons, Panthers, Browns, Packers, Jaguars and Steelers. The Jaguars play in London every year, so they're out of potential competition.
The last time the Eagles opened the season on a Friday was Sept. 24, 1948, when they lost to the Chicago Cards 21-14 at Comiskey Park. But they went on to win their first NFL championship three months later at Shibe Park.
The last time the Eagles played on a Friday was Sept. 30, 1960, when they beat the Cowboys 27-25 in the Cotton Bowl. They also won the NFL Championship that year.
Overall, the Eagles go 2-5-1 on Fridays, including back-to-back losses to the Pittsburgh Pirates and Detroit Lions a week apart in 1935.
Friday NFL games were popular in the 1960s, but since 1970 there have been only 11, including the Jets-Dolphins game last Dec. 24 on Christmas Eve.
This will be the Eagles' second regular season game overseas. They beat the Jaguars 24-18 at Wembley Stadium in London in October 2018.
They also played preseason games abroad against the Saints in Mexico City in 1978, in London in 1989 against the Browns, 1991 against the Bills and in 1993 against the Saints.
“This historic first international match in South America showcases the continued expansion of our global footprint,” Goodell said. “Playing on the Friday night of Week 1 is a unique way to highlight our growth and international ambitions.”
Other international matches in 2024 with the “home” team will be in London (Bears, Vikings, Jaguars) and Munich, Germany (Panthers).
Since the start of international regular season matches in 2007, the NFL has played 36 games in London, five in Mexico City and two in Germany.
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