On September 6th, the National Football League, better known as the NFL, will hold its first game in Brazil at the Neo Química Arena in São Paulo. It will be the world’s top American football league’s second game in the 2024/2025 season. 

The match between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Green Bay Packers will take place at 9:15 pm, and tickets are already sold out. There will be a show by Brazilian artist Anitta during halftime. According to the event organizers, Luísa Sonza will sing the Brazilian national anthem during the opening ceremony, and Zeeba will sing the US national anthem.

This is the first time that a regular season match of the largest US sports league will take place in South America. Aside from Brazil, the 2024/2025 season will include five other games away from home (three in England, one in Germany, and one in Spain). The away matches are part of a project, created by the league in 2007, to make the sport popular in other countries.

The game and artistic performances in Brazil will be televised across the world. In Brazil, the game will be shown on Disney+.

Why Brazil?

According to the NFL, Brazil is an important market for the sport. It has the second largest international fanbase with close to 38 million people, just behind Mexico. Brazil is also the third country with the most NFL games views according to a 2022 study carried out by Ibope Repucom,

The Power of the NFL 

Founded in 1922, the NFL is the main sports league in the United States.

The 32 teams in the championship are split into two groups (called conferences): the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). Each group has 16 teams.

Each team plays 17 games, and 14 of these teams (seven from each conference) qualify for the playoffs, the next phase with elimination matches that determine the champion of each conference.

The two winners play in the finals, also known as the Super Bowl. The event is widely watched by Americans and includes performances by music stars during the halftime show, such as Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Snoop Dogg, and Rihanna.

The most recent final, held in February of this year, broke records in terms of its audience: on average, 123.4 million viewers watched the broadcast.

Access the link to find out more about American football rules in Portuguese.

Sources: NFL Brasil, ESPN, Exame, Valor Econômico, and Lance!