It takes a lot to get an NFL team to Brazil. Here’s how the Ravens pulled it off.

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On Justice Hill’s first trip out of the country, he just had to show up in São Paulo and teammate Mark Ingram took care of the rest.

Hill is back in Brazil for the Ravens’ Week 3 game against the Dallas Cowboys, and the goal of the Ravens’ operations team is for the running back to have another worry-free experience.

Since the game was officially announced in April, the Ravens have been preparing for their third international trip in franchise history. It’s also the NFL’s first game in Rio de Janeiro.

But the game day routine will hopefully feel just like any other Ravens game.

“Even though we’re going somewhere, you’re still trying to replicate what you do here,” said Simon Gelan, the team’s senior vice president of operations.

Gelan and Joan Fennekohl, vice president of team travel, heard “rumblings” of a game in Brazil well before it was announced. Fennekohl’s mind quickly turned to logistics, but team officials weren’t able to actually start making plans until the official announcement on April 24.

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In May, a team of eight went down to scout out this first-time NFL site. The group consisted of representatives from the operations team, the video staff, the equipment staff, the athletic trainers, the security team, the grounds crew and the marketing team.

As the host team, the Cowboys had the first choice between the two league-designated hotels and the accompanying practice sites, but they didn’t have to choose until June. So, Fennekohl said the Baltimore contingent toured all four places.

They also checked out the stadium, airport and anything that had to do with transportation.

They were trying to plan for all the same things that come up on game day, Gelan said, but in a different environment, one that no team had ever played in. New head coach Jesse Minter went to São Paulo with the Chargers last year, so his assistant was able to provide some tips, but many of the details like transportation routes, weren’t relevant to Rio.

For logistics people like Fennekohl and Gelan, it presented a fun challenge.

“Being the first is really cool because you really get to set the stage for people, future teams to come on board,” Gelan said. The NFL has a contract with the city to play three games in five years.

In June, the team sent a boat shipment to Brazil. Typically, the Ravens truck anything east of Denver and fly shipments farther west. This included things that are tough to source outside the U.S. and didn’t have to be used between June and September.

“Stuff has to go down really early because it takes a while to get it all down there,” Fennekohl said. “So as much stuff that we can send down ahead of time, like food, snacks, anything non-perishable, anything we don’t think we’re going to be able to find down there that they’re used to eating like pretzels and certain types of chips, we send it down there.”

Feeding a roster of football players is an important task. With over 50 players from different backgrounds, NFL locker rooms feature adventurous foodies as well as picky eaters. And even the foodies may prefer the familiar when preparing to play an NFL game.

In July, the hotel chef traveled from Brazil to join the team for joint practice in Minnesota. The chef observed how a hotel operates when an NFL team is visiting and worked with the two team chefs to set up the menu for Week 3.

“They’ll work together to make sure the food is edible to some of the players,” Fennekohl said. “It looks good, it tastes good, it tastes like what they would expect from what they get here.”

Before the team boarded its plane Thursday, additional equipment took off for Brazil on a different plane so it can clear customs and be situated in the locker room once the players arrive.

The players and staff will have to clear customs, as well, but airports have a way to process large groups.

Hill said, unlike the 2023 game in London when the Ravens went for the whole week, players haven’t been talking about Brazil much, since they won’t be there long. It’s a business trip, and it’s on the people behind the scenes to make sure the players are able to take care of business without thought for much else.

Hill’s original trip to Brazil with his fellow running backs sparked his taste for travel. If the players are allowed any time to explore, there’s one thing that tops Hill’s wish list for Rio: the beach.