Eagles Historic 2024 Home Opener In South America: 5 Things To Know

PHILADELPHIA, PA — The Eagles will start their 2024 season in South America, the NFL announced this week, marking a stunning development in the league's international outreach efforts that will put the Birds at the center of a national and global audience.

Here are five key takeaways from the announcement.

Date and location

The game will take place on Friday, Sept. 6 at Corinthians Arena in São Paulo, primarily a soccer stadium which was at the center of the world stage when it hosted the 2014 World Cup.

The stadium has a capacity of 47,252.

The announcement comes just a day after the 2026 World Cup schedule was finalized, in which the Birds will host six soccer games at their own friendly confines on Pattison and Broad.

The exact kickoff time will be announced at some point in the spring once the opponent is finalized, although NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has already referred to it as a night game. Sao Paolo is currently two hours ahead of east coast time, but it will only be one hour ahead in September due to Brazil eliminating daylight savings time this summer.

History and context

Not once in the last 50 years has the NFL kicked its season off on a Friday, so the announcement marks yet another marketing twist from a league that has been positively antsy to reinvent itself over the past several years.

After expanding its schedule to routinely include games on Thursdays, as well as multiple Monday night games, the league then moved to expand its season to 17 games over 18 weeks, despite strong arguments from players and coaches that the existing schedule was already too taxing and contributing to plagues of concussions and head injuries.

The NFL already plays games in United Kingdom and Germany each year, with two held in each country in 2023-24.

Potential opponent

Curiously, Goodell's announcement only included the Eagles, not their opponent. There are several favorites in the running.

Of course the odds are ever in the favor of the Eagles opening day opponent being a division rival, as six of their 17 games are against the Giants, Cowboys, and Commanders. The Cowboys have had the most recent success and arguably have the most international name recognition of any NFL team, so a strong argument could made that they are the favorites.

The Birds have already announced the rest of their opponents for 2024, and since the Brazil game is being called a "home" game for the Eagles, there are six other possibilities:

• Pittsburgh Steelers
• Carolina Panthers
• Green Bay Packers
• Cleveland Browns
• Atlanta Falcons
• Jacksonville Jaguars

Of those, the Jaguars and Panthers are already playing in London next year, so the Steelers would have to be considered the favorites, due to their popularity and proximity to Philly. The Packers are a close second.

Why the Birds?

The Chiefs are on top of the world, the Niners and Lions and Ravens and Bills have the momentum of recent success, the Cowboys and Patriots have more name recognition, and the lone Brazilian-born NFL player, Cairo Santos, is a kicker for the Chicago Bears. So why the Eagles?

Recovering from a brutal end to a 2023 season that saw the Eagles fall precipitously from Super Bowl favorites to a first round playoff exit, the exciting though strange news may be the only thing to shake Birds fans from post-playoffs ennui.

Of course, the Eagles are from Philadelphia, emblematic of America, and drew some international recognition for both of their recent Super Bowl runs.

"The Eagles organization is honored to have been selected to play in the first-ever National Football League game in South America," Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie said in a statement. "With the global growth of our sport being a top priority to our league, we embrace the opportunity to grow our fanbase around the world and bring Eagles football to the 38 million sports fans in Brazil. One of the world's most culturally diverse nations, Brazil is an international melting pot, and we look forward to experiencing its warm, vibrant, and welcoming environment later this year."

The Eagles have played one previous overseas game, a win over Jacksonville in London in 2018.

Tickets and more

The Eagles are already marketing fan packages that feature chances to win special on and off field experiences and couple the game with tourism around Brazil. The deposit for the package is $500.

Tickets have not yet gone on sale for individual games but typically do when full schedule details are announced in the early spring.