Pack your bikinis and your jerseys, ladies…football is headed to Rio. The NFL just dropped some major news: starting in 2026, they\u2019re bringing regular season games to the legendary Maracan\u00e3 Stadium, one of the most famous sports venues on the planet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This isn\u2019t just a one-and-done trip either. The league has locked in a multi-year commitment<\/strong>, promising at least three games over the next five years<\/strong>. For a country that already has more than 36 million NFL fans<\/strong>, Brazil is about to become the hottest new home for American football outside the States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Commissioner Roger Goodell called Rio \u201cone of the world\u2019s most iconic cities\u201d and he\u2019s not wrong. From carnival parades to beaches that make your Instagram sparkle, Rio is the perfect backdrop for the NFL\u2019s big international push.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rio\u2019s Mayor Eduardo Paes is all in too, saying the NFL\u2019s arrival is so huge it\u2019s going straight onto the city\u2019s official calendar. Imagine that: NFL Sundays officially part of Rio\u2019s party schedule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And Governor Cl\u00e1udio Castro made it clear this isn\u2019t just about football…it\u2019s about tourism, jobs, and showing off Brazil as a global sports powerhouse. Translation? Expect the city to be buzzing with energy, fans, and probably a lot of Caipirinhas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019ve been following along, you know this isn\u2019t Brazil\u2019s first NFL flirtation. S\u00e3o Paulo hosted back-to-back games: Packers vs. Eagles in 2024 and Chiefs vs. Chargers in 2025 (Chargers came out on top, by the way). Both pulled massive crowds \u2014 nearly 50,000 fans filled Corinthians Arena earlier this month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But now the NFL is leveling up. The Maracan\u00e3 isn\u2019t just a stadium…it\u2019s a cathedral of football<\/strong> (the soccer kind). Bringing the NFL there is a statement: the league wants to cement American football\u2019s place in South America\u2019s sports culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For us at Football Is Sexy<\/em>, this is the kind of move that makes the game more fun for everyone. Football isn\u2019t just staying in its comfort zone anymore…it\u2019s hitting beaches, crossing borders, and proving it belongs on the world\u2019s biggest stages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Between the glamour of Rio, the intensity of NFL action, and the energy of South American fans, 2026 is shaping up to be unforgettable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Game dates and teams haven\u2019t been announced yet, but you better believe we\u2019ll be watching every detail. Until then, ladies…book that Brazil trip early.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Always Rep. Always Sexy. Always Game Day Ready.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Pack your bikinis and your jerseys, ladies…football is headed to Rio. The NFL just dropped some major news: starting in 2026, they\u2019re bringing regular season games to the legendary Maracan\u00e3 Stadium, one of the most…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2567,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,81],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[145],"class_list":{"0":"post-2566","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"category-nfl-team-news"},"aioseo_notices":[],"authors":[{"term_id":145,"user_id":2,"is_guest":0,"slug":"tasha","display_name":"Tasha Macri","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b2f554b129806d985f524acb0a085767d8a592e99d195688b40701a9da21c99d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/footballissexy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/footballissexy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/footballissexy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/footballissexy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/footballissexy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2566"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/footballissexy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2566\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2568,"href":"https:\/\/footballissexy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2566\/revisions\/2568"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/footballissexy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/footballissexy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/footballissexy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/footballissexy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2566"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/footballissexy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=2566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Football Meets Samba Energy<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Brazil\u2019s Football Fever Keeps Growing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Global Game, Global Girls<\/h3>\n\n\n\n