The Philadelphia Eagles finally know their opponent for the season opener in São Paulo, Brazil. In the NFL’s first ever game in South America, the Eagles will host the Green Bay Packers.
It came down to the Packers or the Browns for this game and the Eagles will face one of the NFC’s up-and-coming teams.
This is a tough draw for the Eagles. They will be the home team against the Packers, who finished last season strong going into the playoffs.
The Packers had a 9-8 record in 2023, winning six of their final eight games in the regular season. They then beat the Dallas Cowboys, 48-32, in the wild card round before falling to the San Francisco 49ers, 24-21, in the divisional round. The Packers have an exciting young quarterback in Jordan Love, who really came into his own in the playoffs last season.
Get top local stories in Southern California delivered to you every morning. >Sign up for NBC LA's News Headlines newsletter.
The Eagles last played the Packers in 2022. The Eagles won that one 40-33 at Lincoln Financial Field in a game where Jalen Hurts threw for 150+ yards and ran for 150+. Miles Sanders also had 143 yards and two touchdowns.
The game between the two teams this year will be played on Friday, Sept. 6 at Arena Corinthians in São Paulo. The stadium is the home of the Brazilian soccer team SC Corinthians and has a capacity of 47,252. The kickoff time will be announced with the schedule release this spring.
The game will be streamed exclusively on Peacock but will be available locally in Philadelphia and Green Bay. This will also be the first time the NFL has played a game on Friday night on the opening weekend in over 50 years.
“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,” Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie said in a statement. “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.”
This will count as one of the Eagles’ nine home games in 2024. They will still have eight regular season home games at Lincoln Financial Field this upcoming season against the Cowboys, Giants, Commanders, Falcons, Panthers, Browns, Jaguars and Steelers. They will also play on the road in Dallas, New York (Giants), Washington, Tampa, Los Angeles (Rams), Baltimore, Cincinnati and New Orleans.
Every team is going to be guaranteed to play a home game at an international site every eight seasons. At the NFL owners meetings, Lurie was excited about the growth of the sport internationally.
“We stepped up and thought let’s do it in South America and Brazil, a really dynamic country,” Lurie said. “And then we won’t be doing that as the rotation goes through.”
