NFL breaks new ground with game in Sao Paulo

GOING GLOBAL:
The regular season fixture is part of the football league’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the sport to international destinations

The US National Football League (NFL) breaks new ground in its global expansion strategy tomorrow when the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers face off in the first-ever grid-iron game staged in Brazil.

For one night only, the land of Pele and ‘The Beautiful Game’ will get a rare glimpse into the bone-crunching world of American football as the Packers and Eagles collide at Sao Paulo’s Neo Quimica Arena, the 46,000-seat home of soccer club Corinthians.

The regular season fixture is part of the NFL’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the US’ most popular sport to new territories following previous international fixtures in London, Munich, Frankfurt, Toronto and Mexico City. Spain is to host a regular-season game next year at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, home of European soccer giant Real Madrid.

Photo: AP

The NFL has said there are about 38 million American football fans in Brazil, of whom 8.3 million are described as avid. That makes Brazil the second-largest international fan base after Mexico, the league said.

The NFL has made it clear that it sees Brazil as a regular venue for games in the future, with tomorrow’s game effectively establishing a beachhead for the sport.

“The fundamental strategy is really a focus on becoming a true global sports property and growing the game and the fan base around the world,” NFL executive vice president of international events Peter O’Reilly said. “We’ve seen when we’ve gone to a market with a game like Germany a few years ago, where we’ve committed to play, you’ve seen the demand, the passion and then the impact.”

Photo: AFP

However, no other sport is likely to dethrone soccer as Brazil’s national obsession, and tomorrow’s NFL game would be competing for attention with Brazil’s 2026 World Cup qualifying game against Ecuador in Curitiba.

Yet the South American country has a long record of embracing US culture, with the NBA increasingly regarding Brazil as a key international market.

In the NFL’s case, the sport’s profile was also boosted by quarterback icon Tom Brady’s 13-year marriage to Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen. However, the buzz around tomorrow’s fixture in Sao Paulo has not been shared by some of the participants, with Philadelphia players A.J. Brown and Darius Slay revealing that they had been advised not to leave the team hotel due to concerns over crime.

Slay said that while he was looking forward to the fixture, he did not want to go Brazil.

“They already told us not to leave the hotel. They told us we can’t do too much going on, because the crime rate is crazy,” Slay said. “I’m like ‘NFL, why would you want to send us somewhere with a crime rate this high?’”

Slay later apologized for the remarks, insisting he had not meant to cause offense.

“I’m looking forward to playing in your beautiful country,” he wrote on X.

In purely sporting terms, Philadelphia coach Nick Sirianni would be looking for a fast start from new signing Saquon Barkley, while hoping to see his team adjust following the retirement of center Jason Kelce and defensive tackle Fletcher Cox.

Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur meanwhile would look to rising star quarterback Jordan Love to lead a young Packers team to victory.