The Dallas Cowboys and Baltimore Ravens head to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in Week 3. Will field conditions be a problem? Soccer players there are complaining about it.
Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
The Dallas Cowboys have been working on the logistics to play the Baltimore Ravens in Week 3 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, since March, according to head coach Brian Schottenheimer.
“We sent a team in late March to head down there and look around the facility,” Schottenheimer told reporters on Friday. “It’s a very, very, very intense process, but our operations team and really organizationally have done a great job of setting it up.”
The Cowboys’ process includes cargo ships and flying to Brazil on Thursday night. They’re controlling what they can control.
Unfortunately, there’s one thing they can’t control and it might end up being the biggest story of the international showdown based on what we’re hearing from Brazil teams playing at Maracanã if it goes south: grass conditions.
Brazil soccer players frustrated with Maracanã’s grass
Goalkeeper Agustín Rossi of Flamengo recently ripped the field conditions at Maracanã, which will host its first ever NFL game when the Cowboys take on the Ravens on Sept. 27.
“You don’t even need to talk about the field, it’s there for everyone to see,” Rossi said via ge, a Brazilian digital sports portal. “The way we play, it’s unbelievable that we’re playing on a field like this. Both penalty areas are bad as (expletiuve). If you look at it, there are bumps everywhere. There’s still going to be an NFL game here during the international break. After that game, I hope the field is in better shape.”
For Rossi, that would be enough. For the Cowboys and the Ravens, the concern is not what happens after their game but before. This isn’t a new concern when it comes to the NFL visiting Brazil. In 2024, the field was atrocious for the first-ever game in Sao Paulo.
That resulted in the NFL investing $1 million on the pitch at Arena Corinthians to make the grass better for football. Arena Corinthians was well-suited for soccer but not for football. Almost one week away from the Cowboys-Ravens mathcup, in Rio it seems bad for both.
“We’ve been struggling a lot in these last few games, and the field keeps getting worse,” said Flamengo midfielder Giorgian De Arrascaeta. “It’s getting harder and harder to control the ball. We have to try to play quickly. If we want to be champions, we have to find a solution. With the team we have, we can’t be playing on a field like this.”
Some have seen this issue come from a mile away. Brazilian journalist Felipe Laurence has covered the NFL for decades.
Back in July, Laurence voiced his concerns about the field conditions at the venue, posting the following on social media: “The Maracanã field doesn’t look to be in great shape with less than two months until the NFL game there.”
Can the NFL do anything about the field?
It is unclear how much the NFL will be able to amend the field conditions at Maracanã, though the league is expected to intervene at some point before the Dallas Cowboys play the Baltimore Ravens.
Maracanã executives have indicated heavy rain as a large reason for the field conditions, admitting the pitch is a concern.
There is one more soccer game scheduled between today and the NFL’s matchup at the venue. The former is scheduled for Sept. 20, which would give the league less than a week to work on the field.
The NFL’s process to improve the pitch at Arena Corinthians began in summer of last year, well in advance of the game. Not to mention, the concern then was to adapt it to American football. Not the overall condition of the field, which is the issue Maracanã currently faces.
Hopefully, clarity emerges in the coming days. In the meantime, the Cowboys will try to avoid an 0-2 start against the Washington Commanders on Sunday as the Ravens seek a 2-0 start against the New Orleans Saints.
Brazil logistics and field conditions are an aferthought for them at the moment. But we’ll keep a close eye on how the situation evolves.
