Field for Chiefs game in Brazil is being upgraded following complaints last year
Tight end Travis Kelce might have made the official announcement of the Chiefs’ season-opening game against the Chargers in São Paulo, Brazil.
“This doesn’t come out until Wednesday?” Kelce said last week on his New Heights podcast. “Yeah, we’re definitely playing in Brazil.”
Wednesday was the day the NFL announced the Chiefs-Chargers game in Brazil, so Kelce may have been the first to let football fans officially know the Chiefs will be traveling to São Paulo.
Kelce’s podcast co-host/brother, Jason Kelce, is a former Eagles’ center. Philadelphia played Green Bay last year at Arena Corinthians in São Paulo, and players from both teams had their troubles with the playing surface.
The slippery field conditions generated headlines as players expressed their displeasure with the turf.
“I wanted to go last year when Philly played there,” Jason Kelce said last week on the podcast. “By the way, the field was atrocious last year. It was noticeably bad.”
He added: “The stadium was dope, although the grass last year again was terrible, so hopefully they fix that this year.”
Jason Kelce appears to have gotten his wish.
Neo Química Arena, which is another name for São Paulo’s Arena Corinthians, announced a new grass-seeding process was taking place.
“The service aims to ensure a more resistant playing field for the rest of the season,” a story on the Neo Química Arena website noted. “With a period of 11 days without matches ... the company that takes care of the lawn decided to carry out the procedure, ensuring more adequate time for the seeds to germinate.
“The SpeedSeed machine from Redexim was used for the operation, ensuring better seeding, with greater precision and efficiency in the service. The machinery provides a different technology than usual, as it opens furrows in the field and inserts the seeds inside each space created. This way, there is greater protection against birds and favors development, with greater depth for them to grow.”
A video of the work being done was shared on Instagram. Take a look:
Hopefully this will ensure the Chiefs and Chargers will have no issues with the field, which is comprised of ryegrass with artificial fibers, as the Sporting News noted.
The Brazilian website Lance reported the stadium’s grass “has a cooling system that spreads cold water and air at 100 km/h through ducts, which tends to hurt players less. The system consists of 20 centimeters of synthetic fiber inserted into the soil where the natural grass grows.“
This story was originally published May 20, 2025 at 9:57 AM.
