Eagles Officially Land Historic International Game for 2024 Kickoff Weekend
International games are a polarizing topic for NFL fans — nobody denies that growing the game internationally is great, but fans typically don't want to see their own teams forced to make the long mid-season road trips. That means the latest news is going to have Philadelphia Eagles fans feeling some type of way.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announced on Monday that the Eagles will not only be playing an international game in the 2024 NFL regular season, but that it will be a historic one.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announces the #Eagles will be the host team in the inaugural Brazil game this season — and it will be on Friday night of kickoff weekend.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) February 5, 2024
Eagles News: Week 1 International Game in Brazil Announced
The Eagles will officially be the "home" team in a Week 1 game in Brazil to kick off their 2024 season. This will be the league's first ever game in Brazil, and it will be a primetime game on Friday night of Week 1.
A few things really stand out here, and most of them are not good:
Losing one of your home games hurts. The NFC East is always going to be an incredibly close division, and one win can make a huge difference come playoff time. So getting home-field advantage less often than the rest of the division stings.
Philly is going to enter the season with new offensive and defensive coordinators. The team is going to take some time to get into its groove, likely needing to work out some early kinks. An added wrinkle of an international game is a distraction we don't need.
This could very well mean opening the season against the Green Bay Packers. They always open the season on the road, and they're one of the most internationally popular teams in the NFL. That kind of a tough matchup, in a tough situation, is not a good way to ease into things.
From a non-Eagles perspective, it also shows how the NFL is continuing to work its way into an every-day product. Anyone looking for a return to the era of watching a slew of games on Sundays then being treated to Monday Night Football as a unique experience will be disappointed. It's become increasingly clear that expanding beyond the current Thursday-Sunday-Monday slate is a priority. This Friday night broadcast is just going to be the tip of the iceberg.
In any case, this game is official now, so like it or not there's no point in getting too bent out of shape. For now, it's "vamo Eagles!"
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