Brazil Debut: NFL Expands Globally Despite Player Concerns

The NFL’s first game in Brazil, set for Friday in São Paulo between the Eagles and Packers, is breaking new ground on multiple fronts. But the event’s uniqueness will likely help usher in new norms for the league.

The prime-time contest, to be streamed exclusively on Peacock, is aimed in large part at tapping into what the NFL describes as fast-growing fandom for American football in South America, and is a highlight of the league’s overall slate of five international games in 2024. But many of the special characteristics of the Green Bay–Philadelphia contest are also designed as the beginning of much larger initiatives for the NFL and its partners. Among them: 

• The locale: Contemplated for some time, the Brazil game moves materially beyond the NFL’s prior international efforts focused mainly in continental Europe, where it has been actively working to develop fandom in various forms since the 1980s. Even before this Packers-Eagles game is played, commissioner Roger Goodell wanted to do more in the country. He’s not alone as the Dolphins and Patriots hold rights in Brazil, where soccer normally dominates, as part of the NFL’s Global Markets Program. Brazil has more than 210 million people and the world’s eighth-largest economy. “This is sort of like the spark that just creates the fire,” Goodell said this week on The Pat McAfee Show. “We really are focused on becoming a global game.”
• The date: The unusual slotting of an NFL game on a Friday takes advantage of a loophole in the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961, a federal law protecting high school and college football games between the second Friday of September and second Saturday in December each year. As the league continues to grow more creative in placing games on its schedule, as seen with the Christmas Day doubleheader on a Wednesday this year, similar workarounds for early-September Fridays are a possibility in future years.
• The broadcaster: The Brazil game will be just the third NFL exclusive on Peacock, NBCUniversal’s streaming service. It’s highly unlikely the average viewership will top the U.S. streaming record of 23 million set by Peacock in January with an NFL wild-card game. But a solid number is expected, and NBCU and parent company Comcast are enjoying a big dose of momentum with Peacock after the platform’s significant role in banner ratings from the recent Paris Olympics.

Brazilian Disturbances

There have been some concerns surrounding the upcoming game, including a debunked uniform color issue and the ongoing battle between a Brazilian court and X owner Elon Musk. Most recently, São Paulo security was tightened after players on both teams voiced concerns.

“I’m like, ‘NFL why y’all wanna send us somewhere where the crime rate is this high and we out the country,’” Eagles cornerback Darius Slay Jr. said on his Big Play Slay podcast. “You know, the first thing people are thinking is like some terror could possibly happen. I told my family do not come down there because I’m not going to be nowhere to be found.”

Slay later apologized for those remarks.