{"id":135413,"date":"2025-09-05T20:01:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T20:01:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/135413\/"},"modified":"2025-09-05T20:01:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T20:01:09","slug":"nfl-contributes-to-turf-renovation-in-brazil-ahead-of-chiefs-chargers-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/135413\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL contributes to turf renovation in Brazil ahead of Chiefs-Chargers game"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Athletic has live coverage of Chiefs vs Chargers<\/a> on in NFL kickoff action from Brazil.<\/p>\n

When the NFL played its first game in Brazil last year at Corinthians Arena in S\u00e3o Paulo, Brazil, criticism rose<\/a> about the slick field conditions. As the league prepares to return to the arena for Friday\u2019s Kansas City Chiefs versus Los Angeles Chargers matchup, it hopes to avoid the same problems thanks to a turf renovation, along with extra awareness from players, coaches and executives.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are always focused on delivering the best experience for our teams in every way, and certainly, the field surface is a key component of that,\u201d NFL executive VP of club business Peter O\u2019Reilly said in August. \u201cOur team has been down there working with Corinthians to ensure the best possible field surface for this game, and we feel confident in that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Corinthians Arena, also known as Neo Qu\u00edmica Arena, is primarily a soccer stadium and has hosted events like the World Cup, Olympics and Copa Am\u00e9rica. Its playing surface features the hybrid turf GrassMaster, which is the same turf used at two NFL stadiums: Lambeau Field (Green Bay Packers) and Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia Eagles), the homes of two teams that played in Brazil last year. However, before this summer, the turf at Corinthians Arena had not been renovated since the facility opened in 2014<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In June, the NFL and its local partners invested in the renovation process and sent technology not yet available in Brazil to sew new synthetic fibers in the grass. The process was aimed at improving traction, a development that directly ties to the concerns of NFL players.<\/p>\n

The Eagles beat the Packers 34-29 last year in Brazil, but multiple players lost their footing and slipped throughout the game. Eagles coach Nick Sirianni told NBC at halftime that the playing surface was a problem, but, \u201cWe\u2019ve gotta do whatever you\u2019ve gotta do, change your cleats.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Monday, before Chargers players departed for Brazil, a whiteboard outside of their equipment room had a note written on it in red marker, strongly urging them to get fitted for screw-in cleats. Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert said he thinks his team \u201cwill be able to handle it,\u201d as long as they are properly equipped.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s something that we always address before the game, and we\u2019ve seen the film. We\u2019ve talked about it,\u201d Herbert said. \u201cThat\u2019s something that we\u2019ll feel before the game when we\u2019re able to warm up, see how it is, and just make sure that we get a good feel for all the cuts that we\u2019re going to make and handle that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chargers running back Najee Harris said earlier this week that improper field conditions can make playing extremely difficult, especially in the running game.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I cut into the ground, I put a lot of force into it,\u201d Harris said. \u201cI know it\u2019s not going to be the same type of (surface) that we\u2019re used to playing on, and hopefully the screw-in cleats help, but I probably don\u2019t think it will.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll see, man. Rather than make assumptions and think about the field, you just got to do what you got to do. Any surface \u2014 rain, sleet, concrete, AstroTurf \u2014 it don\u2019t matter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chiefs coach Andy Reid said he knew that the league was working on improving the field conditions and brushed off concerns about the impact it would have on the game. Kickoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET and, for the first time, will be free to watch on YouTube<\/a>. The Brazil game is the first of seven international games for the NFL this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019ll be ripping and ready to go,\u201d Reid said. \u201cBut you know what? Whatever it is, both teams are playing on it, and we roll.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 The Athletic\u2019s Jesse Newell contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

(Photo: Andre Penner \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Athletic has live coverage of Chiefs vs Chargers on in NFL kickoff action from Brazil. When the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":135414,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[1236,6337,349,99,1794],"class_list":["post-135413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-kansas-city-chiefs","tag-los-angeles-chargers","tag-nfl","tag-sports","tag-sports-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135413"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135413\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/135414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}