It turns out that a college football contest will not take place in Brazil during the upcoming season.
On Wednesday, both North Carolina State and Virginia revealed that their initial Week Zero encounter, planned for Rio de Janeiro, has been relocated to Virginia’s home ground following a “thorough evaluation involving operational collaborators and global entities.” This event was originally slated to mark the inaugural FBS competition on South American soil and was arranged through Athlete Advantage, an independent firm.
According to an official statement, “This alteration was prompted by a notification from Athlete Advantage, which communicated to the ACC and the involved academic institutions that the event could no longer proceed as planned.”
The statement further elaborated, “While initially set for Week Zero, the Atlantic Coast Conference, NC State, and Virginia are currently collaborating with the National Collegiate Athletic Association and ESPN to verify that the match will still occur on its previously established date of Saturday, August 29th.”
The contest was previously slated for a 3:30 p.m. ET start. It represented the latter of two globally themed games slated for Week Zero broadcasts on ESPN. Earlier that day, at 12:00 p.m. ET, North Carolina is set to challenge TCU in Dublin.
Should this particular fixture require rescheduling, Week 1 stands as the sole possible substitute timeframe. Both the Wolfpack and the Cavaliers have a bye in Week 1 due to the previously expected international journey and lack any shared open calendar slots thereafter.
Presently, a total of eight matchups are slated for Week Zero, among them three additional contests featuring squads from major conferences. The Trojans will host San Jose State, the Cardinal will welcome Hawaii, and New Mexico State will travel to face Florida State. Later, in Week 3, the year’s second international sporting event will take place as Arizona State and Kansas compete against one another in London.
