SAO PAULO — “God, I’ve missed this so much!”
A young Chiefs fan has a bright smile on her face on the crowded subway train in Sao Paulo, Brazil, patiently waiting to arrive at the Itaquera station. That’s the final stop of line 3, where hundreds of fans will disembark for the highly-anticipated Los Angeles Chargers vs. Kansas City Chiefs NFL game at the Neo Quimica Arena.
Half of that train is filled with 9-to-5 workers who wouldn’t be able to afford a ticket to the game with their monthly salary. “Whoever said two solid objects cannot occupy the same place at the same time doesn’t know this line,” another one claps back.
The train has become a sea of colored jerseys, an improbable scene in a place where black-and-white jerseys from supporters of superpopular soccer team Corinthians take over the area at least once a week. Nearly 1 million of them have been here so far in 2025, but right now it’s time for the oval ball.
Brazilian aficionados, Chiefs/Chargers fans or not, have spent thousands for a chance to attend only the second ever NFL match to take place in Brazil.
Outside the stadium, before the kick off, giant helmets photo ops and touchdown-catch play entertain the crowd while dozens of helicopters come and go every hour. “That has to be Taylor Swift now,” one says for every chopper that lands.
And in a post-Brady Era. Mahomes is king. His name is on the shirt of most of the fans walking up the ramp for the stadium, and Travis Kelce is a distant second. For the casual ones attending the arena for the NFL hype, he’s simply Swift’s fiancee. Nothing wrong there, too. Brady was Giselo for years in Brazil, so maybe he becomes Swifto after his loved one was expected to travel all the way to Sao Paulo to watch him perform on the field.
A large group of musicians play samba to get things started, and they are joined by Green Day’s Tree Cool. He’s front and center — and having the time of his life. When the national anthems are performed, “home of the brave” becomes “home of the Chiefs”. Even in Brazil. Yes, Brazil indeed sounds like the second home of the Chiefs with a warm reception in a cold night.
The majority of the Sao Paulo crowd is pro-Kansas City. Chargers’ plays are showered with boos but celebrated if successful. When are they getting to see touchdowns again in the South American city, even against the team you chose to love? It’s all fun and good for those nearly 50,000 fans, especially since the city of Sao Paulo doesn’t reinforce its no-alcohol rule for NFL games as it is for soccer matches, including ones in that very same arena.
Chargers fans had the last laugh in the end with a slow but dominant first half, including a disappointing first quarter for Mahomes and the Chiefs. Chargers stopped Chiefs’ comeback attempt in the final quarter to secure the 27-21 win.
From a business standpoint, the NFL’s Brazilian experience is already a proven success. Despite a bump in ticket prices compared to last year’s game, up 35 percent in certain areas of the stadium, it sold out in hours.
The NFL did not disclose the gate for the 2024 and 2025 games in Brazil, but it’s fair to say it completely demolished the gate for Brazil’s World Cup qualifying match the night before in Rio de Janeiro — Brazil vs. Chile drew 57.326 fans for a gate of $1,730,000.
There were fewer fans at the NFL game as the stadium is not as big as Maracana, but the cheapest NFL ticket was more expensive than the top ticket for the soccer match. The price was 11 times that number for some areas of Neo Quimica Arena, meaning the NFL would easily triple or quadruple the Brazil-Chile gate.
Media interest was huge, too, with 280 reporters credentialed for the NFL game. In Rio de Janeiro, for a much popular sport in the country, 513 professionals covered Brazil’s 3-0 win with players from all over the world, including stars from Chelsea, Barcelona, Liverpool and PSG. Soccer — or futebol, as they call it down there — is still the No. 1 passion, but football is gaining ground year after year.
In 2024, Green Bay Packers vs. Philadelphia Eagles set the attendance record for the stadium at 47,236, and the city of Sao Paulo said it caused a positive impact to the local economy of $61.9 million. Gerrit Meier, head of NFL International, told the local media earlier this week that the NFL is “here to stay” as Brazil games have become a “mini Super Bowl” in terms of production.
Fans display a giant tifo behind the Chiefs bench right before the game started, announcing they’re “The country of football” now.
They’re right — even if for one night only.
