• Loading stock data...
Saturday, May 10, 2025
Join us May 14 at 1 p.m. ET for Future of Sports: Leagues of Their Own Register Now

NFL Exploits Loophole to Play Another Friday Night Game in Brazil

Last year, the NFL played a rare Friday game. Now, it’s becoming more common with a return trip to South America. 

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The NFL is returning to Brazil to help start the 2025 regular season, and again is taking advantage of a legal loophole to make it happen. 

The league said Wednesday that it will play a game on a Friday—Sept. 5 in São Paulo—following a debut effort there last year with a game between the Packers and Eagles. This time, the Chargers will be the designated home team in Brazil, but the formula to play a rare Friday NFL game is the same as last year.

The NFL is bound by the terms of the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961, which is aimed in part at protecting high school and college football and precludes pro football games from happening on Fridays and Saturdays during the regular seasons of those lower levels. 

The applicable window of that federal act, however, begins with the second Friday of September, extending to the second Saturday in December. The Brazil game is situated in front of that and again sets up a blockbuster opening week for the NFL that will include primetime games on Sept. 4, 5, 7, and 8. Aiding that effort is the Sept. 1 placement of Labor Day on the 2025 calendar, the earliest it can be. 

Beginning that run of Week 1 games will be the kickoff event in Philadelphia with the Super Bowl LIX champion Eagles. 

NFL games each of the past two seasons on Black Friday have fallen within the protective window of the Sports Broadcasting Act, but there is a further loophole there. Those contests started at 3 p.m. ET—ahead of a prohibition of airing “all or a substantial part” of pro football games on Fridays after 6 p.m. during the high school and college regular seasons. 

Broadcast plans for the 2025 Brazil game have not been finalized. Last year’s Packers-Eagles matchup was streamed exclusively on NBCUniversal’s Peacock, drawing an average audience of 14.2 million

The Bigger Global Picture

The Brazil game is part of an expansive NFL international slate for 2025 that also includes two games at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, an additional London game at Wembley Stadium, another in Berlin, and first-time trips for the league in the regular season to Spain and Ireland. 

Amid that growing ambition, however, Brazil is a key priority for the league, as it looks to take advantage of the fast-growing fandom for American football in South America. The NFL says Brazil has more than 36 million people who identify as NFL fans, representing the league’s second-largest international fan base after Mexico.

Linkedin
Whatsapp
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

What to Read

Apr 26, 2025; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo (13) dribbles the basketball as Cleveland Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley (4) defends in the third quarter during game three for the first round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Kaseya Center.

Jared Kushner’s Brother Bought Small Stake in Miami Heat Last Year

Kushner reportedly sold his Grizzlies stake to buy an interest in the Heat.
Curry

Brady, Curry, Ohtani Get Most Claims Dropped in FTX Endorser Suit

The judge did call the endorsers “uninformed, negligent, or even reckless.”
Mar 26, 2025; New York, New York, USA; Actor and filmmaker Spike Lee (l) greets former professional boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. during the game between the LA Clippers and the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.

‘Friends of the Garden’: Inside the NBA’s Most Exclusive Celebrity Suite

“Among the titans of industry, deals are done at Suite 200.”

NFL Nears Deal for YouTube Game That Could Break Streaming Records

YouTube closing in on a deal to show a game from Brazil.

Featured Today

Apr 18, 2024; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Stanford Cardinal vs Grand Canyon University Antelopes during the MPSF Men's Volleyball Championship at Galen Center.

‘What Just Happened’: Inside the Abrupt End of Grand Canyon Men’s Volleyball

Inside Grand Canyon’s shocking decision to cut men’s volleyball.
exclusive
May 9, 2025

Shams Charania on Draft, Breaking Dončić Trade, ‘Whirlwind’ ESPN Tenure

Charania will work on his first NBA draft lottery for ESPN on Monday.
Fat Perez reacts after hitting his shot on the 16th tee during the WHOOP Shot at Glory on the 16th hole at TPC in Scottsdale on Feb. 5, 2025.
May 7, 2025

Golf Influencers Are the New Currency for PGA Tour and LIV

YouTube golf is big business. The rival tours are staging formal events.
Feb 8, 2025; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks assistant coach Rick Brunson talks with New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11), forward Mikal Bridges (25), and guard Josh Hart (3) during a timeout in the third quarter against the Boston Celtics at Madison Square Garden.
May 6, 2025

Before the Villanova Knicks, There Were the Kentucky Celtics

Three decades ago, Boston tried its own version of the college-teammate experiment.
May 4, 2025; Iowa City, IA, USA; Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) looks on with head coach Stephanie White during the third quarter against the Brazil National Team at Carver-Haweye Arena.
May 8, 2025

If Caitlin Clark, Fever Realize Title Dreams, WNBA Will Win Big

Caitlin Clark addressed the media on Thursday.
May 9, 2025

Roku’s $10M MLB Deal Resumes Despite ESPN Drama

Early Sunday games begin with a high-profile Cubs-Mets matchup.
Sponsored

Game On: Portfolio Players Stories, Brought to You by E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley

Portfolio Players is our bi-weekly spotlight on the athletes and investors reshaping the business of sports. This week, venture capitalist Kai Cunningham unpacks why athletes land top deals and how the usual investing rules don’t always apply.
Feb 9, 2025; New Orleans, LA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) lines up for the tush push play on the goal line against the Kansas City Chiefs during Super Bowl LIX at Ceasars Superdome.
May 8, 2025

Saquon Barkley Defends Tush Push, Tells Opponents to ‘Get Better’

Saquon Barkley makes a passionate defense for the hotly debated play.
May 7, 2025

Ladies European Tour Gets Prize Money Boost From Saudi Arabia

A new PIF Global Series will pay out $13 million.
May 4, 2025; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Red Bull driver Max Verstappen (1) and McLaren driver Oscar Piastri (81) during the F1 Miami Grand Prix at Miami International Autodrome.
May 7, 2025

F1 Loses Money, but Books $14.2B in Future Revenue

Executives convey optimism despite earnings issues and unresolved media rights.
Sam Presti
May 6, 2025

Sam Presti Finally Wins NBA Executive of the Year for OKC Juggernaut

Presti has come in second place for the award three times.