I attended Packers game in São Paulo. It convinced me the NFL going global is good.

Posted by Admin September 14, 2024 NFL

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When we were visiting Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, someone yelled ‘Go Pack Go’ to my husband who was wearing his Packers snapback

Whether you like it or not, the NFL is expanding. Internationally. For almost two decades, Roger Goodell has been on a mission to evangelize NFL football around the world. Prior to this season, 50 regular season NFL games have been played in London, Munich, Frankfurt, Mexico City and Toronto.

This year, the NFL will hold three more contests in London, another in Munich, and just completed its first ever game in South America where the Green Bay Packers lost to the Philadelphia Eagles in São Paulo, Brazil. As someone who was there, I think the NFL going global is good for football fans everywhere.

I have no opinion or arguments when it comes to the logistics, economics or even feasibility of continued expansion. There is legitimate apprehension over how hard the travel and time zone changes are on players and serious concerns about the differences between soccer and football fields.

I’m empathetic for how much fans treasure each home game and that, by forcing teams to play one abroad, you’re taking away the chance for some fans to see their team at their stadium.

My NFL international expansion argument comes from the heart

I have no idea if these games will fulfill the NFL’s stated purpose of “identifying NFL ready talent around the world.” and I would never pretend to know enough to offer thoughtful critique of the NFL’s strategy and approach if the end goal is to truly have financially viable franchises on different continents.

My advocacy for NFL fans to embrace the expansion isn’t a logical argument. It’s an emotional one.

Being a part of the first game on a new continent showed me these international games are good for NFL fans because sports, travel and sharing culture are all unifying forces in otherwise divided times.

Major events like the Olympics and World Cup have unified us for centuries. It provides moments of watching superstars, like Lebron and Steph, go from career-long adversaries to Gold Medal teammates. It takes opposing soccer club fans from hating each other to rooting together for their country. Being in Sao Paulo’s Corinthians Arena with over 45,000 fans created those same sort of moments.

Packers fans obviously connected as Packers fans. It was easy to make fast friends every time you saw someone carrying the G in the wild, like when we were visiting Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro and someone yelled “Go Pack Go” to my husband who was wearing his Packers snapback.

Unexpected connections in São Paulo cemented experience

But this trip also created unforeseen reconnections with Packer fans you never thought you’d see again. For example, by the end of the weekend, I was hanging out with my brother’s UW-Milwaukee Panther Basketball teammate, who I hadn’t seen since I was 15. That only happened because he had randomly sat next to his long lost Oshkosh high school classmate during the game and that classmate happened to be friends with our friends. There’s something extra special about that kind of serendipity happening in a foreign country rather than Lambeau Field.

These games also connect opposing fans as Americans experiencing this awesome event together. During the game, the Eagles’ fan sitting behind us could not have been more of a stereotype of an Eagles fan: loud, arrogant, incessant. But he was also pretty funny. He and my husband exchanged trash talking quips for the entire game while also trading off buying each other a beer. At our hotel, we were far outnumbered by Eagles fans. The day after the game, everyone we spoke to was more than gracious about their win, showed genuine concern over Jordan Love’s injury and was happy to compare their Brazil experience thus far. I’m not sure those kinds of exchanges would happen if we were to run into Eagles’ fans the next day at breakfast in a Philly diner.

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Games abroad also bridge NFL fans across language and culture. If you have been lucky enough to attend an NFL game, do you remember your first time going? Or have you ever gotten to watch a friend attend their first game and the palpable excitement they bring to the experience? Now multiply that by tens of thousands. At the game, we saw every NFL team’s jersey represented because, for a lot of these Brazilian fans, it wasn’t about seeing the Packers or the Eagles specifically. It was about finally getting to experience something they thought they would only ever be able to watch on TV.

Often when you travel abroad, you are the one consuming a new culture but this game allowed Americans an opportunity to actually exchange culture. We ate their food and they got to enjoy actually being able to drink in the stadium (which we found out doesn’t typically happen at soccer matches at this stadium). They got to experience a halftime show, we got introduced to one of their biggest pop stars. They got to see the Vince Lombardi Trophy. We got samba dancers at our tailgate.

Traveling also forces you to expand your horizons and squash preconceived notions about a place. As early as last spring, there were rumors about how dangerous Brazil would be for Americans. Could we wear green? Were players allowed to leave their hotels? I have no doubt that this xenophobic narrative scared some Americans out of taking advantage of this opportunity. Ultimately, for everyone, including the players, who actually got to experience a beautiful country and culture, they can now report back that there was nothing to be concerned about in the first place.

Emotions aren’t a business strategy, but they do drive decisions

That’s what’s so magical about these games for fans. It’s providing the extra push for some to travel to places they may not otherwise consider going and have once in a lifetime experiences along the way. For instance, at the tailgate before the game, my husband and I spoke to a Waukesha man and his 83 year old father who had also gone to the London game in 2022 together. They admitted both were trips they likely would have never made, especially together, had it not been for the Packers playing.

I understand that my argument as to why these international games are good for fans is a squishy emotional one that can only be made in the wake of my gratitude for getting to have the experience.

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I know that the NFL is a profit making machine that does not make decisions based on squishy emotions or the altruistic desire to bring people together to bridge cultures through the power of sports.

But as fans who have nothing to gain financially whether or not the NFL expands, by embracing this expansion, we do have a lot to gain emotionally and culturally. I implore you to get on board and start saving for the next time the Packers play abroad.

Kristin Brey is the “My Take” columnist for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.