As the Dallas Cowboys gear up to play the Washington Commanders this Sunday, many are turning their attention to Week 3 due to field conditions at Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The Cowboys will travel to Rio to face the Baltimore Ravens in a Sept. 27 matchup and, as we pointed out earlier in the week, the playing field at Maracanã has been consistently criticized by soccer players there. The comments raise concerns for the NFL’s scheduled matchup abroad.

“The way we play, it’s unbelievable that we’re playing on a field like this,” said goalkeeper Agustín Rossi of Flamengo. “Both penalty areas are bad as (expletiuve). If you look at it, there are bumps everywhere.”

As the storyline has gathered national attention with the NFL heading there in under a week, one significant question has emerged: Could the league relocate the game in Rio due to poor field conditions?

Though field condition concerns are well justified, it’s unlikely for a change to happen.

Why the NFL is unlikely to relocate Cowboys vs. Ravens

The thinking behind the NFL potentially relocating Cowboys vs. Ravens has revolved mostly around the fact that there is precedent. At least, kind of.

In 2018, the Los Angeles Rams and the Kansas City Chiefs were scheduled to play in Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. However, due to poor field conditions, the league decided to relocate the game to Los Angeles, where we then witnessed the historic 54-51 shootout between Patrick Mahomes and Jared Goff.

However, the field conditions of Azteca in 2018 were much worse than the current conditions at Maracanã. And there’s a key reason why.

The field conditions in Mexico were as poor as they were back then largely because of concert activity leading up to the game. Azteca hosted international artist Shakira for multiple days, with the shows leaving the playing field in unplayable fashion, football or otherwise. Rain activity and management were also part of the problem.

Maracanã’s grass is in a rough spot right now but it’s nothing compared to Azteca in 2018. Additionally, the league has gained experience dealing with football field conditions abroad.

Brazilian journalist Felipe Laurence, who has covered the league for decades, posted on social media: “People from the NFL over there have repeatedly told me that they now have much more expertise when it comes to dealing with playing surfaces, and they believe there’s enough room to improve the Maracanã field within a week.”

NFL’s experience in Brazil

The field conditions for the Green Bay Packers-Philadelphia Eagles game in São Paulo in 2024 were a disaster, and it looked like an ice rink. Jordan Love hurt his knee in that game, for example, with an MCL tear that affected most of his season afterwards.

Last year, the NFL invested around $1 million to make the grass better for football instead of its regular structure for soccer at Arena Corinthians.

However, the Maracanã management looks more concerned about how the field will be after the NFL game is played, and that was the nature of their conversations with the Arena Corinthians leadership.

“We’re in contact with the Brazilian company that’s contracted by the NFL. But the grass is different, and it reacts differently,” Fred Nantes, Maracanã’s CEO, told ge.com. “They’re different types of grass in Itaquera [Arena Corinthians] and here. Maybe what works there won’t work here.”

The NFL gained expertise to recover fields quickly, but it’s certainly going to be a challenge considering that Maracanã’s field looks suboptimal even for soccer games, a sport that usually demands a lower grass quality than football.

The NFL is far from interested in international fans missing out on games. The league wants the game to happen in Rio de Janeiro. Mexico City in 2018 was a big exception because of how bad it was days before the game. Player safety was too much of a risk.

Don’t expect this one to be relocated, though their efforts to improve the field conditions will be a situation worth monitoring.