The NFL will make history this Friday in the first-ever regular-season game played in South America when the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers meet in Brazil to kick off the 2024 season.
This is the latest expansion in the NFL International Series, which began with an annual game in London, England, and has grown to include other countries with plans for more in the future as the league looks to build on its global impact as there are fans of American football all over the world.
But a game in Brazil is a very big deal. With a population near 212 million people, Brazil is the seventh-most populated country in the world. Outside of the United States (345 million), the country with the largest population that has hosted an NFL game is Mexico (130 million).
South America is uncharted territory for the NFL, so it is looking for a great experience in what could be a fantastic game between a few flagship franchises in the NFC who are very much in Super Bowl LIX contention this year. In fact, we picked the Packers to reach the Super Bowl on the NFC side this February.
The game will only be available on Peacock to stream, the same service that had the freezing-cold AFC wild-card game between the Chiefs and Dolphins in January. On the plus side, if you subscribe to Peacock, they just added the classic TV series Homicide: Life on the Street. So, that will give you something to watch for a long time (122 episodes) in addition to football.
But huge TV ratings were never the goal of the NFL with this game. They have a desire to reach their fans in Brazil and South America as they want to grow the game globally the way the NBA has been doing. It’s a little easier for the NBA since so many of the great players today are from foreign countries while the NFL is still absolutely dominated by US-born players and coaches.
But the NFL is a thrilling soap opera, and more eyeballs in more parts of the world can only help it. Let’s preview Friday night’s game with a look back at the history of the NFL’s International Series, the impact of a game in Brazil, the real reasons these teams may not be wearing green Friday night, and a little preview of one of the best Week 1 games to kick off the 2024 NFL season.
Table of Contents
The History of the NFL International Series
We look back at the history of NFL games played outside of the United States.
The American Bowl (1986-2005)
Once upon a time, the NFL’s only attempts to promote its games on foreign soil were preseason exhibition games called the American Bowl. The first one was held in 1986 as the Chicago Bears, fresh off their historic Super Bowl season with the 1985 team, beat the Dallas Cowboys (“America’s Team”) in a 17-6 final that was played at Wembley Stadium in London, England.
Soon enough, the games also were held in Japan at the Tokyo Dome, in several provinces of Canada (Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver), and other places such as Berlin, Mexico City, Barcelona, Monterrey, Dublin, Osaka, and Sydney.
The last such game was held in August 2005 in Tokyo between the Falcons and Colts. I can actually remember staying up to watch that 5:00 a.m. local kickoff time just to see Peyton Manning and Michael Vick play a little in a preseason opener.
But that was the end of the American Bowl series.
NFL Europe (1991-2007)
In addition to the American Bowl, there was also NFL Europe, a developmental league that ran from 1991-92 and then from 1995-2007. The initial version in 1991-92 actually featured seven North American teams and three teams in Europe. The latter was popular in Europe, but the North American teams did not catch on as is usually the case for semi-professional leagues or rival leagues to the NFL in America.
That’s why the NFL Europe project, which underwent multiple name changes, was suspended after two seasons. It returned in 1995 and ran through the 2007 season. If you played the Madden video game series at that time, you are probably familiar with some of the team names that you could play as, including the Frankfurt Galaxy, Rhein Fire, Berlin Thunder, and Barcelona Dragons.
There were some famous NFL players who participated in NFL Europe at some point:
- Kurt Warner (2-time MVP and Hall of Fame quarterback)
- Adam Vinatieri (legendary kicker who is the NFL’s all-time leading scorer)
- Brad Johnson (won the Super Bowl as the starting quarterback for the 2002 Buccaneers)
- Jake Delhomme (lost the Super Bowl as the starting quarterback for the 2003 Panthers)
- Dante Hall (became a great kick/punt returner for the Chiefs)
However the league was not profitable, and the NFL wanted to host real games in London, so the 2007 season was the final one for NFL Europe.
Fútbol Americano (2005)
Before London, the NFL actually hosted its first-ever regular-season game outside of the United States on October 2, 2005, at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. The Arizona Cardinals defeated the San Francisco 49ers 31-14 in a game that was advertised as “Fútbol Americano.”
The attendance for the game was 103,467, which set an NFL record at the time. Thanks to the success of the event, the NFL moved forward with its plans for more international games.
NFL Plays in London (2007-Present)
When Roger Goodell became the new NFL commissioner in 2006, he expressed many goals about playing regular-season games in London, and possibly loftier goals than that like a London-hosted Super Bowl and an NFL franchise overseas.
The first London regular-season game was held at Wembley Stadium on October 28, 2007. The New York Giants, who went on to win the Super Bowl that year, defeated the Miami Dolphins in a soggy 13-10 affair.
The London games would eventually gain a reputation for bad offense, but don’t let anyone forget about the second game in 2008 when the Saints beat the Chargers 37-32 in a shootout between Drew Brees and Philip Rivers. Sometimes it’s all about who you schedule to play.
In time, the Jacksonville Jaguars would infamously become the team best associated with London as they have played there 11 times, which is five games more than the next-closest team to play in any international game. The Jaguars are also scheduled to play there twice in 2024 in October against the Bears and Patriots, which will bring their total to 13 London games.
Not long after the London games, the NFL also started playing some games in Toronto, Canada, and the Buffalo Bills were the team used for that “Bills Toronto Series” in 2008-2013 given their close proximity to the northern border.
NFL’s Return to Mexico City (2016-22)
With the success of the London games, the NFL also returned to Estadio Azteca in Mexico City for an annual regular-season game in 2016-19 before the pandemic, and then one more game in 2022.
The most memorable of these games was actually the one that didn’t happen in 2018. The Rams and Chiefs were supposed to meet in Mexico City for a Monday night game, but heavy rains and too many events leading up to the date deteriorated the playing surface at Estadio Azteca, a soccer venue.
So, just six days before the game, the NFL decided to move it back to Los Angeles, giving the Rams a true home game again. With Patrick Mahomes and Jared Goff dueling on a Monday night, it ended with the Rams winning 54-51, the third-highest scoring game in NFL history, and the first time ever a losing team scored 50 points in the NFL.
Imagine if that instant classic had happened out of the country.
The NFL Starts Playing in Germany (2022)
With the London games going well, the NFL expanded things to Germany as well with games in Munich and Frankfurt. The first German game was in 2022 when Tom Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the Seattle Seahawks 21-16 in Munich.
Last season, it was Frankfurt’s turn for a pair of games in November that did not live up to the offensive expectations. But they did produce two of the most memorable defensive takeaways of the season.
The Chiefs forced Tyreek Hill into a fumble that was returned for a long touchdown before halftime to take a 21-0 lead over Miami. A week later, Bailey Zappe of the Patriots threw a hilarious fake spike interception in a 10-6 loss to the Colts.
This season, the Giants and Panthers will meet in Munich in November, so maybe the low scoring will continue in Germany.
Brazil Is Up Next for NFL
In December 2023, the NFL announced that São Paulo, Brazil would be the next international market to receive a regular-season game in 2024. That makes it the first NFL game played in South America.
In June, there was a surprising amount of demand that overwhelmed Ticketmaster. Of the 150,000 people in the queue, only about 10% actually received their tickets.
The NFL is banking that a country that loves soccer and has little experience with American football will fall in love with the game. According to a research institute in Brazil (IBOPE), there were 3 million Brazilians “interested” in the NFL in 2014, and that number has spiked to 38 million in 2023.
But with the Eagles and Packers set to play Friday night, there are some controversies surrounding the country and the game.
Eagles Star Cites Brazilian Crime Rate as Concern
It may not be the best pregame buildup when one of your star players is citing crime as a concern about traveling to another country to play this game. That happened earlier this week when Philadelphia corner Darius Slay had this to say about the trip to Brazil:
Darius Slay: “Week 1.. I can’t wait. But man, I do not wanna go to Brazil.. They already told us not to leave the hotel. They told us we can’t do too much because the crime rate is crazy. I’m like ‘NFL, why would you wanna send us somewhere with a crime rate this high?’.. I told my family do not come down there.”
On the surface, a player should be a little more “on guard” when visiting another country as laws are different around the world. WNBA star Brittney Griner learned that the hard way when she was detained for several months in Russia for allegedly possessing vaporizer (vape) cartridges that contained less than a gram of hash oil.
So, fooling around with drugs or acting silly in the club this week would probably not be advisable for the Eagles and Packers. However, let’s not act like São Paulo is this dangerous city like the Rio de Janeiro setting that’s depicted in the gangster epic City of God where gunshots are commonly heard in the slums.
In fact, São Paulo may have better crime rates for homicides and violent crimes than Philadelphia. Could someone steal your phone from you in public in Brazil? Perhaps, but the players will have good security details around them on this trip.
Besides, isn’t Big Dom, the team’s head of security we learned about last season when he was ejected during the San Francisco game, going to be there? You should feel safe with that guy around.
Why Aren’t the Eagles Wearing Green in Brazil?
The Packers and Eagles both have a lot of green in their uniforms. But it was announced earlier this week that the Eagles would wear a rare mixture of white jerseys, black pants, and a black helmet.
The lack of green in those uniforms had fans on social media jumping into conspiracy theories that the Eagles are scared to wear green because of gang-related issues in Brazil. Incredibly, the source of this misinformation is Josh Jacobs, the new Green Bay running back, who said back in June on a podcast that you can’t wear green where they’re going because of the gangs.
This is false. First, the Packers will be wearing green. The Eagles opted not to, and it is out of respect for a soccer rivalry in Brazil. This game will be played at Arena Corinthians where the Corinthians play their soccer matches. The Corinthians wear black and their archrival, Palmeiras, wears green. Since the Eagles are the designated “home” team in this game, they will honor the local fans by wearing black and not green like their rivals, the role the Packers will fill this week.
Slay talking about crimes, Jacobs spreading misinformation about gang colors… Come on, guys. Let’s just play some football. You’ll be fine.
NFL Week 1 Packers vs. Eagles Preview
Let’s hope the playing surface is great as that can often be the deciding factor in how good these international games are. Obviously, this stadium is not traditionally used for American football, so hopefully they have a good surface that plays fast and safe as these teams both have the ability to score a lot. Their last meeting in 2022 ended 40-33 in a game where Jordan Love replaced an injured Aaron Rodgers in a loss for the Packers.
The Eagles are a 2.5-point favorite with a total of 49.5 points. Here are some things to watch for Friday night.
- Tale of two seasons: Green Bay finished 7-3 after a 3-6 start while the Eagles finished 1-6 after a 10-1 start. Who gets the upper hand in Week 1?
- The Packers have several talented receivers with no true No. 1, which could make things difficult for a reshuffled Philadelphia secondary with some young corners supporting Slay like rookies Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean.
- How will the Tush Push fare for Jalen Hurts after center Jason Kelce retired for the Eagles?
- Love had an absurdly low sack rate in road games (2.3%) compared to when he was home at Lambeau Field (6.96%) last year.
- Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur is 21-9 ATS (70%) as an underdog since 2019, the third-best record in the NFL in that time.
- Since 2019, Green Bay is the only team to cover the spread in over 60% of conference games (41-26, 61.2%).
- Running backs Josh Jacobs (Packers) and Saquon Barkley (Eagles) will make their new team debuts.
Who wins? I lean towards Green Bay in the game, but the NFL ultimately should win again. A success here in Brazil would bring another game back with almost certainty.
We also will see a game in Madrid, Spain in 2025 as the next layer of expansion for the NFL International Series.
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