Behind the numbers on the Green Bay Packers’ season-opener in Brazil:
GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) – The Green Bay Packers are set to kick off 2024 on the other side of the world when they play the Philadelphia Eagles in São Paulo, Brazil, on Friday, September 6. The Week One matchup is the first NFL game to be played in South America.
“I’m shocked,” diehard Packers fan Bunny Doyle, in town for a business meeting from Storm Lake, Iowa, said. “This is the first I’ve heard of the NFL taking their brand and game to South America. I think it’s cool, the Eagles will be a tough opponent and I’m sure that’ll be a big draw for the Brazilians.”
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Construction worker Claytin Frank, on his way to the work site, agrees that the game will help get not just more fans of football, but also of the Packers.
“I’m excited, it’s awesome for the Packers,” he said. “It’s good for us because we get noticed more, but I think it’s also good for the NFL just to get it out there more than it already is.”
Brazil is the fifth-largest country in the world and the seventh-most populous. São Paulo is the largest city in South America, with a population of more than 12 million.
“I feel like there are going to be people who are going to be looking for that game experience exclusively, but then I think there will be people who say, ‘Let’s make this a 10-day trip and see what Brazil has to offer,’” Fox World Travel business relationship director Rose Gray said.
Gray wants interested fans to keep in mind that due to Brazil’s vast size, traveling outside of São Paulo will likely require extra flights within the country depending on how much tourists want to see. Green Bay flyers will probably have at least one layover on their way to Brazil, making the 5,376-mile journey a 14-hour one.
“The space on the one and only nonstop out of Chicago is already dwindling,” Gray said. “Although there is a possibility that more could be added with this announcement.”
At a minimum, round-trip tickets will likely cost more than $1,400.
“A little out of my price range,” Frank said. “If they have an international game a few years from now, maybe then I’ll have more [money] to go. It’s the coolest experience I could probably think of.”
“That’s a firm no. My husband’s not going to travel internationally; we like to stay on American soil,” Doyle said. But I think it’s cool they’re doing this.”
The game will be played in the Corinthians Arena, which has a seating capacity of 47,000 but was increased with additional seating to 65,000 for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. It remains unclear if that will be an option for the Packers-Eagles game.
The Corinthians are in the Brazilian Serie A, which plays mostly on Saturday, Sunday, and Wednesday. The series is off the week of the Packers game. The season runs from April to December.
The game will be streamed exclusively on Peacock. The time has yet to be determined, though Brazil is two hours ahead of Green Bay’s central time zone.
As for the Brazilians attending their first NFL game, Packers fans have a couple of pieces of advice they want them to know.
Packers to kick off the 2024 NFL Season in São Paulo, Brazil
“Wear green and gold and go pack go,” Doyle said.
“Wear your green and gold and be as loud as you can,” Frank added.
