After bringing its product to the United Kingdom and Germany in 2023, the NFL’s age of exploration continues Friday in Sao Paulo, Brazil where the Green Bay Packers will square off with the Philadelphia Eagles in the league’s first game ever played in South America.
And much like Christopher Columbus and Amerigo Vespucci before him, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and his cohorts are crossing the equator for financial reasons. Even for a league that generated $13 billion in national revenue last year, tapping into the world’s eighth-largest economy, with a reported 38 million gridiron football fans, sounds like a good bet.
‘When you bring our game and share it with others, they love it,’ Goodell told ESPN’s Pat McAfee on Wednesday. ‘And that’s essentially what we’re doing. Letting the game sell [itself].’
But Goodell’s math on the NFL’s business trip to Sao Paulo ignores complicating factors facing players and fans, such as crime in the area. Even in Sao Paulo, which recently slashed its homicide rate to a 20-year low, the city still reported 576,278 cases of theft and another 221,955 instances of robbery in 2023. Sao Paulo’s citizens were robbed once every five minutes last year, according to one report.
And much like the NFL’s years-long public-relations battle over traumatic head injuries, the league can’t claim ignorance. It’s already issued safety warnings to players, who are justified in questioning yet another business decision that prioritizes profits above safety.
Philadelphia Eagles’ quarterback Jalen Hurts arrives at Sao Paulo International airport
Mural showing quarterbacks Jalen Hurts and Jordan Love in Sao Paulo late last month
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell (pictured) and his cohorts are trying to tap into Brazil
Things are so bad, Eagles cornerback Darius Slay said on his podcast, that the teams are telling players not to leave their hotels.
‘I do not want to go to Brazil. You want to know why? I’m going to tell you why,’ Slay said. ‘They already told us not to leave the hotel. They told us we can’t do too much going on, because the crime rate is crazy. I’m like ”NFL, why would you want to send us somewhere with a crime rate this high?”’
Obviously the NFL didn’t need to leave the country to find a dangerous city. Even with a recent reduction, Philadelphia still ranks 38th among major cities in Numbeo.com’s international crime index – just 17 spots behind Sao Paulo.
Of course, Slay and his teammates aren’t tourists in Philadelphia, which is why they need to take more care in Brazil, where criminals have a reputation for targeting visitors.
The problem is so severe that the country has been under a US State Department travel alert since late 2023. One particularly ominous warning in that alert discourages tourists from fighting back against would-be muggers: ‘Do not physically resist any robbery attempt.’
Of course, such a warning might be necessary in the US, where 49ers rookie Ricky Pearsall was recently shot in the chest during a botched mugging in San Francisco.
Still, that doesn’t excuse the NFL’s decision to take on similar risks in Sao Paulo.
‘I told my family do not come down there because I’m not going to be nowhere to be found,’ said Slay, who has since walked back his comments to declare that he’s ‘looking forward’ to the game.
But Slay isn’t the only player who has voiced concerns.
Eagles wide receiver AJ Brown told reporters that players have were instructed to guard their valuables and keep their phones in their pockets on the street.
‘We had a meeting [on August 28], and there were a whole bunch of ”Don’t Do’s,”’ Brown recently told reporters. ‘So I’m just trying to go down there and win a football game, and come back home … But after hearing all this stuff, I’m probably going to be in my room.’
‘That’s the best thing,’ agreed Packers cornerback Eric Stokes. ‘Just don’t leave the hotel.’
Of course, the Packers will have to leave the hotel to play Friday’s game. The problem there is that, depending on Sao Paulo’s infamous traffic congestion, the commute could take around two hours. And that’s after the players spent 10.5 hours on a flight from Wisconsin to Brazil’s most populous state.
There has been some confusion over fans being allowed to wear green at Arena Corinthians
A policeman stands guard during the arrival of the Packers at Sao Paulo International airport
Universidad de Chile fans scuffle with riot police at Arena Corinthians in 2017
Universidad de Chile fans scuffle with riot police during their match against Corinthians at the Arena Corinthians Stadium in Sao Paulo in 2017
The police need to stop fights betwen fans of Corinthians during the match between Corinthians and Gremio for the Brazilian Series A 2014 at Arena Corinthians
There has been some confusion over fans being allowed to wear green at Arena Corinthians after Packers running back Josh Jacobs suggested an existing, informal ban on the color had something to do with gangs in the area.
The NFL has since clarified that fans will be allowed to wear green – a good thing, since the Eagles are playing the Packers – adding that the stadium’s informal ban has nothing to do with gangs, but rather the color scheme of Corinthians’ main rival, Palmeiras.
But crime is only one concern among several, as Republican Wisconsin State Assembly Representative John Macco explained while advocating for the NFL to reconsider Friday’s game.
‘In light of the current political and social climate in Brazil, I urge the National Football League (NFL) and Green Bay Packers to reconsider the upcoming game scheduled to be held in Brazil on Friday,’ read the statement Macco, a Green Bay native. ‘The alarming reports of widespread unrest, escalating violence, and profound censorship against US companies operating within Brazil paint a troubling picture of the conditions there.’
The censorship Macco is referring to appears to be the new ban on Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, over allegations that the website is spreading false information.
Furthermore, drought-stricken Brazil has faced an 80-percent spike in wildfires this year, straining the country’s resources as both the Packers and Eagles are set to arrive in Sao Paulo.
Packers running back Josh Jacobs mistakenly suggested that green will be banned on Friday
A shot from the Rio Football Academy in Brazil, which reportedly has 38 million gridiron fans
And finally there is the price.
NFL packages, which include tickets and access to a reception, start at $469. However, they do not include airfare, which was around $1,500 this week for a flight from Philadelphia to Brazil.
Then for the locals in Brazil, where the average income is a reported $1,770 dollars a month, the $160 ‘get in’ price is equally out of reach, although that doesn’t appear to have hurt demand.
Nor, for that matter, have safety concerns.
For their part, Sao Paulo officials claim they’ve tightened security ahead of Friday’s game, where specialized civil and military police battalions will monitor streets, trains, subways stations, hotels and other local tourist attractions.
There will also be a pregame stadium sweep by security before kickoff, trained dogs to detect potential explosive devices, as well as helicopters and drones flying overhead throughout the night. Sao Paulo police will even station officers in the stadium to support female victims of violence.
But for all the well-intentioned preparations, their mere necessity illustrates the risks of playing in country with the world’s seventh-highest crime rate, according to Numbeo.
The Packers’ Josh Jacobs, center, and teammates arrive at Sao Paulo International airport
Green Bay Packers fans await the team’s arrival at Sao Paulo International airport
It was just one year ago that a 23-year-old Brazilian woman was killed at Allianz Parque Stadium in Sao Paulo after she was hit in the neck by a beer bottle during a brawl between Palmeiras and Flamengo supporters.
That’s not to say such violence is unfamiliar to the NFL. Just last year, a 53-year-old Patriots fan was struck during an altercation at Gillette Stadium and ultimately died from his injuries.
But while fan brawls have become common at NFL stadiums, serious injuries are rare and the league is in position to ban violent attendees permanently. What’s more, the NFL can work with local law enforcement to ensure guilty parties are punished.
Sao Paulo, on the other hand, is the great unknown. And for a league that has billions in annual earnings to protect – not to mention employees and fans – it’s an unnecessary risk.
