NC State's trip to Brazil canceled, to play at Virginia in 2026 season

The past few months have featured highly-anticipated build up for NC State’s trek to Rio de Janiero, Brazil, to open the 2026 campaign against Virginia. But, now it’s no longer set to happen, the program announced Wednesday morning.

Instead of becoming the first college football game to be played in South America, the Cavaliers and Wolfpack will play the ACC contest at Scott Stadium in Charlottesville. It’s unclear, at this time, whether or not the game will stay at its current date on Aug. 29 in Week 0 or if it will be moved to a different date.

The cancelation comes after Athlete Advantage, the group in charge of organizing the game, notified the conference and two programs that it couldn’t follow through with the historic feat.

“This change follows communication from Athlete Advantage, which informed the ACC and participating schools that the event could not be conducted,” the statement said.

According to the contract first reported by TheWolfpacker.com in March, NC State is owed $1.5 million by Athlete Advantage as a cancelation fee, which is due to be paid to the athletic department within 30 days of notice given to no longer play the game. The clause in the contract, which reads if the organizer “withdraws from or cancels the Event at any time and for any reason,” appears to have occurred with the cancelation of the international contest.

NC State was set to receive $2 million within 30 days of the event from Athlete Advantage, per the game contract. The athletic department was going to receive 10 percent of the Fan Pack revenue through ticket sales, not to exceed $500,0000, while also getting 20 percent of the net proceeds from sponsorship commissions within 30 days of the event concluding.

Additionally, Athlete Advantage was on the hook to pay for the travel and stay for a 200-person traveling party from NC State via a chartered plane and a “4-5 star hotel” with five meals provided per day.

The game between NC State and Virginia was originally scheduled as a non-conference home-and-home ahead of the 2025 season. It will now honor the second half of that agreement, but will still be considered an ACC game that will count towards the conference standings in the nine-game league schedule this fall.

Fans who purchased tickets or travel packages through the official College Football Brasil website will receive refunds. Refund administration is being coordinated through applicable ticketing, payment processing, and event partners.