Roger Goodell wants to take the NFL to the whole world and will host eight more international matchups this season. One of these games is set to take place at Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, between the Dallas Cowboys and the Baltimore Ravens, despite rising concerns about the field conditions.
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“An NFL spokesperson told Front Office Sports that the league is looking forward to the game in Rio,” Mark Maske of FOS wrote. “And, as with all international games, it has a plan in place to ensure a high-quality playing surface.”
Dallas head coach Brian Schottenheimer said that he had “no concerns” about the quality of the field. The Cowboys had sent a team in late March to assess things. From what they have seen, it seems like Dallas is all in on the matchup. However, soccer players who have recently played in the stadium have sounded an alarm.
“There’s no need to talk about the field; everyone can see it,” Flamengo club goalie Agustín Rossi told ESPN. “The way we play, it’s unbelievable to have a field like this. Both penalty areas are terrible … If you look, there are bumps everywhere … There’s still an NFL game during the break (for the FIFA international break). After that game, I hope the field will be better.”
Another player from the same club had the same problem. Flamengo midfielder Giorgian De Arrascaeta further noted that the “field keeps getting worse” and that it’s “getting harder and harder to control the ball.” De Arrascaeta further emphasized that the field was unplayable.
This is the first time the NFL will play in Rio de Janeiro. However, with these reports coming in only a week before kickoff, it is not a promising picture for either team. Before the Cowboys-Ravens game, Flamengo takes on Bragantino this Sunday. That will only add to the wear-and-tear already reported by players.
The Maracanã Stadium was built in 1950 for the FIFA World Cup. It fell into a state of neglect after the 2016 Summer Olympics. The field had dried up, seats were absent, and the inner hallways smelled like mold, per O Globo. It was practically a ghost town, with electricity being cut to the stadium after it incurred more than $930,000 in unpaid bills, per Reuters.
Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio has also cautioned against holding the game in Rio. According to him, the “prudent” action would be to move the game to the AT&T, as Dallas has been designated as the home team in this clash. The NFL had moved the 2018 matchup in Mexico City to Los Angeles following reports of a bad field a week before the scheduled kickoff.
While this is a growing concern for the league, it isn’t the first time that they have gotten into a situation like this.
Brazil has had a troublesome past as an NFL hosting venue
The NFL is really pushing the whole “Football is for All” motto with its international calendar. The Australia game between the Los Angeles Rams and the San Francisco 49ers saw a crowd of 111,021 inside the Melbourne Cricket Ground, drawing 21.7 million viewers worldwide on Netflix. But this doesn’t change what the NFL has seen before in Brazil: terrible playing conditions for the sport.
In September 2024, the NFL hosted a game at Arena Corinthians Stadium in Brazil, with the Philadelphia Eagles winning 34-29 over the Green Bay Packers. But the talk of the night wasn’t the game, but rather the worse conditions of the playing field. Running back Saquon Barkley had to change cleats with longer spikes for more grip.
“I mean, y’all saw out there that it was kind of rough to get traction,” Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts said. “Definitely challenging on that field. It’s not the type of field we’re used to playing on. We’ve had that type of field before. They had to play on it as well. I’m just happy that we found a way to figure it out as a team and overcome it.”
Offensive tackle Lane Johnson also said it was “one of those fields where the top just came off pretty easy,” while tight end Dallas Goedert opted for the bigger seven-stud cleats to play the game after slipping while running a route during walkthrough.
Even NBA superstar LeBron James criticized the field, quoting: “Man this field s****!!!”
The NFL announced a multi-year commitment to play at least three regular season games in five years in Rio de Janeiro in September 2025, with the league focusing on giving “more than 36 million NFL fans across the country” an experience they have been awaiting.
Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes also thought of the NFL and the vibrant city as the “perfect match.” But that stance can shift if the NFL and the concerned authorities don’t act soon enough before the Week 3 game on September 27.