Packers to open 2024 NFL season in Sao Paulo, Brazil, against the Philadelphia Eagles

GREEN BAY – The Green Bay Packers will open the 2024 season against the Philadelphia Eagles in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

The NFL said Wednesday the Packers will play the Eagles on Sept. 6 at Arena Corinthians, home to the Brazilian soccer team SC Corinthians, in the league's first South American game. It will be a rare regular-season Friday night game.

The Packers' first International Series regular-season game was a 27-22 loss on Oct. 9, 2022, against the New York Giants in London. They were the final NFL team to play a regular-season international game.

Teams designated for international games this year include the Eagles and Packers in Sao Paulo; the Minnesota Vikings, Chicago Bears and Jacksonville Jaguars in London; and the Carolina Panthers in Munich, Germany. Opponents for the European games have not been named. Last year, the NFL announced its full international schedule in May.

It came down to the Packers or the Cleveland Browns as the Eagles' opponent. Packers President and CEO Mark Murphy has said on several occasions that Germany would be an attractive venue, but he also said the Packers would gladly play in Brazil, where Green Bay is one of the two most popular NFL teams.

"We're excited to play in front of our devoted fans in Brazil and help build upon the international popularity of the NFL and the Packers. We had a great experience playing internationally for the first time a couple of years ago and we're proud to be part of the league's continued global growth," Murphy said.

The matchup will be considered a road game for the Packers. Because visiting teams typically do not receive a ticket allotment for season ticket holders, tickets to the game are not available to purchase through the Packers. Ticket packages will be available through On Location, an official partner of the NFL, at onlocationexp.com/packersbrazil.

Arena Corinthians is home to Brazilian soccer team the SC Corinthians and hosted both the 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2016 Olympic Games. The stadium has a capacity of about 47,000.

Peacock (NBCUniversal) has the right to exclusively stream the game. In keeping with a long-standing NFL policy, the game will be available on free, over-the-air broadcast television in the local markets of the competing teams as well as on mobile devices with NFL+. In Wisconsin, the local markets are Green Bay and Milwaukee.

The trip to Sao Paulo is longer than that to London. All told, the outbound trip to London is 10 hours, not counting layovers, while the outbound trip to Sao Paulo is 13 hours. Return trips are 12 hours from London and 13.5 hours from Sao Paulo.

Sao Paulo is on the southeastern coast of Brazil, three hours ahead of Green Bay. It is 277 miles southwest of Rio de Janeiro and has a population of 12.3 million, making it about 1.5 times larger than New York City and as large as all of Illinois.

Packers have nine home games this season

The Packers have nine home games and eight road games this season. It is the first time Lambeau Field will host nine regular-season home games.

Home opponents include the Chicago Bears, Minnesota Vikings, Detroit Lions, Arizona Cardinals, Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Miami Dolphins, New Orleans Saints and San Francisco 49ers. Road games are against the Bears, Vikings, Lions, Eagles, Jacksonville Jaguars, Los Angeles Rams, Tennessee Titans and Seattle Seahawks.

The NFL will release its full schedule in early May, after the draft.

The Packers were the final NFL team to play a regular-season international game, although they did play preseason games in Toronto in 1997, Tokyo in 1998 and Winnipeg in 2019.

Contact Richard Ryman at rryman@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @RichRymanPG, on Instagram at @rrymanPG or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RichardRymanPG

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Packers open 2024 NFL season in Sao Paulo, Brazil, against the Eagles