UVA-NC State game in Brazil scrapped, moved to Charlottesville
Instead of playing the first college football game in South America, Virginia and NC State this season will play the 519th at Scott Stadium.
Six months after the grand announcement and less than three months before kickoff, the schools and the ACC announced Wednesday that the deal to stage their season-opener in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, has fallen apart.
“This change follows communication from Athlete Advantage, which informed the ACC and participating schools that the event could not be conducted,” the parties said in coordinated news releases.
Since the game was originally a UVA home contest, the teams will meet in Charlottesville, where Scott Stadium has been the Cavaliers’ home since 1931.
To be determined is whether the contest still will be played Aug. 29, aka Week 0. That decision rests with the NCAA Division I Football Oversight Committee, which grants waivers for programs to start their seasons earlier than the traditional Week 1, the week of Labor Day.
The schools and the ACC “are working with the NCAA and ESPN to confirm the game will remain on the originally scheduled date,” the release said. ESPN was set to broadcast the contest at 3:30 p.m.
Virginia-NC State and North Carolina-Texas Christian in Dublin, Ireland, would be the only games matching Power Four opponents in Week 0. The Week 1 landscape is far more cluttered with matchups such as Clemson-LSU, Ole Miss-Louisville, Colorado-Georgia Tech, Miami-Stanford, Wisconsin-Notre Dame and SMU-Florida State.
UVA now will play seven home dates, five against ACC opponents as the conference moves to a nine-game league schedule for the first time.
The Brazil game’s organizer, Chicago-based Athlete Advantage, had a website dedicated to the event that was selling hotel and ticket packages ranging from $2,300 to $4,900, flight not included. There were also secondary options such as a $145 VIP tailgate and a $95 trip to see the iconic Christ the Redeemer statue atop Corcovado Mountain.
Fans who purchased tickets or travel packages will receive refunds “through applicable ticketing, payment processing, and event partners,” UVA and NC State said.
Each school was allotted 10,000 tickets — Nilton Santos Stadium seats approximately 46,000 — and representatives from both athletic departments made multiple trips to Brazil in advance of the game. But sources said ticket sales lagged.
Despite repeated open-records request, Virginia never shared its contract with Athlete Advantage. But NC State did to WRAL’s Brian Murphy, and the terms included a $2 million payment to the Wolfpack within 30 days of the game’s completion, and a $1.5 million cancellation fee due NC State if Athlete Advantage withdraws.
NC State athletic director Boo Corrigan signed the document Nov. 15, two weeks before the game was announced Dec. 1 by the giddy principals.
“This is a great opportunity for the University of Virginia and our football program,” Cavaliers AD Carla Williams said that day in a release. “UVA is already recognized globally, and this event allows us to expand our international presence, both as a leading academic institution and as a premier athletics program. We’re honored to participate in such a historic event and thrilled that Brazil will be our host.”
Corrigan: “We’re excited about the opportunity to play a game in a beautiful, world-renowned city like Rio de Janeiro and to bring American football to another continent. It’s definitely a unique situation to play a road game versus Virginia in Brazil, but it should be an unforgettable experience.”
ACC commissioner Jim Phillips: “To have NC State and Virginia open our conference schedule on an international stage in Rio de Janeiro speaks to the vision, innovation, and collaboration of our league. This is an extraordinary moment for the ACC and for college football.”
Rio has hosted World Cups, the 2016 Summer Olympics and this year will stage its first NFL game, Sept. 27 between the Dallas Cowboys and Baltimore Ravens. São Paulo hosted an NFL contest in each of the last two regular seasons.
David Teel, david.teel@virginiamedia.com