The National Football League has announced a multi-year commitment to play a minimum of three regular season games over five years in a second Brazilian city, with Rio de Janeiro looking set to share hosting duties with the existing site in São Paulo.

With more than 36 million NFL fans across the country, the NFL is committed to serving one of its biggest audiences, and has revealed that it will play a first regular season game at the iconic Maracanã Stadium, starting in 2026, as it continues to prioritise global expansion.

“Building on the success of the games in São Paulo, we could not be more excited to play in one of the world’s most iconic cities — Rio de Janeiro,” said NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. “We look forward to working closely with our city and state partners in Rio, along with the historic Maracanã Stadium, to deepen our ties to the tens of millions of fans in Brazil and across South America.”

The NFL has played two games in Brazil to date, most recently seeing the Los Angeles Chargers defeat the Kansas City Chiefs at Corinthians Arena to kick off the 2025 International Series in front of 47,627 fans.

“The National Football League’s multi-year partnership with Rio, a vibrant city where people want to be, is a perfect match,” Rio’s mayor, Eduardo Paes, insisted. “It will be a historic event, as NFL games will be included on our city’s official calendar. I’m looking forward to seeing an American football game at Maracanã, the most iconic temple of world football.”

In addition to regular season games, the NFL is committed to growing the game at every level in Brazil, engaging with fans year-round through partners, programmes and initiatives, including NFL Flag and community events.

It is a similar story in each of the other countries to have hosted an International Series game, with 56 regular season fixtures having been played overseas since the initiative began at Wembley Stadium in 2007. Following the game in São Paulo earlier this month, Dublin, London, Berlin and Madrid are all set to host games in the coming weeks, while the legendary Melbourne Cricket Ground will stage Australia’s first regular season next season.

“We are delighted to announce that Maracanã Stadium will host a regular-season NFL game next year in Rio de Janeiro,” said Rio state governor Cláudio Castro commented. “Brazil is now the second-largest consumer of American football outside the United States, and thousands of tourists and sports fans have dreamed of experiencing this event at the world’s most famous stadium. Bringing the NFL to Rio is a milestone that will boost tourism, create jobs, stimulate the economy, and show the strength of our state as an international sports destination.”

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