Pedro Sampaio and Ricky Martin will be performing the NFL halftime show in Rio on 27 September, giving the city’s first NFL regular-season game a soundtrack with rather more local pulse than the average stadium playlist.
The pair will appear at Maracanã during the Baltimore Ravens’ meeting with the Dallas Cowboys, with kick-off scheduled for 5.25 pm BRT.
Maracanã gets an NFL halftime show with a Rio accent
The booking is clever enough to look obvious after the fact. Sampaio is a Rio native who has accumulated more than 14 billion audio and video streams and more than 10 million monthly Spotify listeners.
Martin supplies three decades of global Latin-pop recognition and the sort of catalogue capable of waking even a crowd still discussing a third-and-long.
For Sampaio, though, the venue is the story as much as the bill.
“I grew up in Rio de Janeiro, seeing Maracanã Stadium as a place where history was made. I never imagined that my first time performing on that field would be alongside Ricky Martin, who has always been a huge inspiration to me. It’s hard to put into words,” said Pedro Sampaio.
“Maracanã is part of the history of both sports and music, and being part of this moment—especially at the first NFL game in my hometown—is something I’ll carry with me for the rest of my life. I’m incredibly happy and grateful to be part of a night that will go down in history.”
Ricky Martin returns to Rio on an unusually large stage
Martin, who has sold more than 95 million albums worldwide, is hardly short of experience in front of large audiences. Yet Maracanã carries a particular pull, and pairing him with Sampaio gives the show a cross-generational shape rather than the scent of a celebrity booking dropped in by helicopter.
“2026 has been a year filled with wonderful opportunities, and this is certainly one of them. Being part of another historic NFL event alongside Pedro Sampaio is incredibly exciting, especially because it brings me back to one of my favourite places in the world: Rio,” said Ricky Martin.
“There’s nothing quite like the energy of the Brazilian people, and I can’t wait to reunite with our fans and perform live at the iconic Maracanã. Get ready to move! See you all in September!”
Ravens-Cowboys is part of the NFL’s biggest international push yet
Rio forms part of the NFL’s largest international regular-season programme to date: nine games spread across seven countries and four continents in 2026. The Rio performance will also be the second of seven international halftime shows, following the Melbourne game earlier in September.
“The NFL Rio Game is an opportunity to celebrate the energy, creativity and passion that make this city unlike anywhere else in the world,” said Tim Tubito, senior director of global game presentation, music and entertainment at the NFL.
“Over the past year, the NFL has embraced the global power and cultural influence of Latin music, and Pedro Sampaio and Ricky Martin each have a unique connection with fans across Brazil, Latin America and beyond. We look forward to a performance that captures the spirit of the city and gives fans an unforgettable celebration on game day.”
Brazil is no longer a side trip for the NFL
The league has already staged regular-season games in São Paulo, but Rio represents a new city and a rather different cultural proposition. Maracanã isn’t merely somewhere with enough seats and some available grass.
It arrives carrying sporting mythology of its own, useful currency for an American league trying to make its travelling production feel rooted rather than rented.
“We are thrilled to welcome Pedro Sampaio and Ricky Martin for the halftime show, in what will be the first NFL regular season game in Rio de Janeiro,” said Luis Martinez, general manager of NFL Brazil.
“Pedro has soared to new heights both in Brazil and around the world, and Ricky has been a global sensation for many years. It will be an unforgettable celebration with Brazilian fans at the Maracanã.”
How to watch the NFL Rio halftime show
Sampaio and Martin’s full halftime performance will be shown live in Brazil on Globo’s GETV and sportv channels. Tickets for the Ravens-Cowboys game are on sale through the NFL’s Rio site, while limited-edition merchandise linked to the performers is planned for NFL Shops in Rio.
Baltimore and Dallas themselves offer something beyond the novelty of the location. Their Week 3 meeting is a relatively uncommon interconference contest: before the 2026 season, the franchises had met just seven times, with Baltimore winning six.
The football will still decide the score. But for a league determined to make Rio feel like more than another pin on its international map, the interval may tell the more interesting story.
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