For the first time in NFL history, the league will play a regular season game in South America next fall.
The NFL announced Wednesday that a game will be played at Corinthians Arena in São Paulo, Brazil in 2024. The stadium with a 68,727 capacity previously hosted World Cup games in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016.
The league will announce five “home” teams for its 2024 international schedule early next year, presumably in January. The NFL prefers (but does not require) “home” teams to play in their designated “Global Markets Program” country.
Only one team — the Miami Dolphins — has Brazil listed as their designated country, so the ‘Phins might be a decent bet to “host” the game at Corinthians Arena in 2024.
The Denver Broncos have Mexico listed as their international market, but the team could be a “road” team for an international game in a different country. The Broncos will face the same-place finisher in the AFC East on the road in 2024, so it’s possible that Miami could be on Denver’s 2024 schedule.
Right now, the Broncos are in second place in the AFC West. The corresponding team in the AFC East right now is the Buffalo Bills. For Denver and the Dolphins to finish in the same spot in their respective divisions (barring something crazy), the Broncos would have to win the AFC West or Miami would have to finish in second place in the AFC East.
As things stand now, Denver seems unlikely to play in Brazil next season. But the NFL plans to expand from four international games in 2024 to eight international games in 2025. Once that happens, half the league will play an international game every season (unless a team volunteers for more than one game). So starting in 2025, it seems likely that most NFL teams will have an international game at least once every other season.
So after playing in London, England in 2022, the Broncos seem likely to play another international game in the not-too-distant future. It might not be in Brazil, but Denver will play outside the United States again. Mexico seemingly remains the team’s most likely destination.
