It’s one thing to think about expanding the NFL into the unknown, but it’s another to get it done when there is a brewing controversy every day leading up to the game. That’s what the Packers vs Eagles game is bringing right now to the table. The first-ever NFL regular season game in Brazil is under a cloud due to the socio-political unrest in the South American country. The concerns over safety and other issues have led to calls for calling off the game entirely.

However, the match has got the green light to kick off at the Arena Corinthians on Friday, September 6. But that has not stopped Wisconsin lawmaker John Macco from calling on the Packers and the league to cancel the Sao Paulo game.

Republican Representative John Macco took to his Facebook account on September 1st and bluntly put: “The Green Bay Packers and the National Football League ought to cancel the game in Brazil scheduled for this coming week.” Why? According to Macco, there are many reasons and not just one.

“The regime pressure, unrest, violence, profound censorship, legal action against US companies doing business there and repression of its people is inconsistent with the NFL and the Packers stated mission,” Macco wrote. Brazil’s political situation was sprung into the limelight on September 2, when its Supreme Court upheld a ban on Elon Musk-owned social media platform X.

The ban was enacted on August 30 after X missed a deadline to appoint a new legal representative in the country. This was shortly after the local office of the social media platform shut down. Justice Alexandre de Moraes imposed the ban, and his exact words were X treating the social network “like a no man’s land – a veritable land without law” by allowing the “massive propagation” of misinformation, hate speech, and anti-democratic attacks by those working with former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro.

Interesting fact: Brazil registers as a country with the fifth largest digital population with X alone having a user base of 22 million! After the X ban, its rival platform Bluesky reported that it had gained 500,000 users just two days later, which they acknowledged with a welcoming post in Portuguese: “Welcome to Bluesky!” Their latest update came just 15 hours ago: “What a week! In the last few days, Bluesky has grown by more than 2.6 million users.” So, how did Musk respond to the ban?

Musk lashed out attacks on Moraes, calling him akin to “Voldemort.” He even tweeted what can only be understood as a vulgar meme which had a dog dangling its scrotum in the face of another animal. He followed up this post with a “He is a dictator and a fraud, not a justice.”

Apart from this the country, more popular for soccer than American-style football, is also dealing with increasing crime rates. This also resonated with Eagles cornerback Darius Slay, who shared his hesitation about going to Brazil for the NFL game.

“Man I do not want to go to Brazil…I tell you why. They already told we cannot 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 you want to send us somewhere with crime rate this high and like we out the country. So the first thing people think is some terror can possibly happen,” he said on his podcast Big Play Slay. Slay also said he told his family members not to travel to Brazil for the game.

In his address, Macco also raised the issue of the safety of those traveling to attend the game. “Their national holiday, their equivalent to Fourth of July, is this Saturday, the 7th, the day after our football game. They are predicting major upheaval. And when you look at some of the riots and some of the other issues that have gone on there, that is not a place that we should be in right now.”

Players like the Eagles’ AJ Brown and the Packers’ Josh Jacobs have expressed their concerns on the same as well. While Brown talked about the pre-tour team meeting to discuss the Do’s and Don’ts, the players must adhere to in Sao Paulo, Josh sort of trod on a little misinformation. He thought the color green ban was due to gangs there, but instead, it was due to the Soccer rivalry between Corinthians and Palmeiras.

So, what does Brazil have to offer in return to curb the security concerns?

• Hundreds of state police officers (both civil and military) with coordination from U.S. authorities will be deployed in Sao Paulo’s NeoQuimica Arena.
• Team buses will be escorted by the military to their hotels, training grounds, and to the stadium.
• Prior to the game commencement, trained dogs will be deployed in the stadium to detect potential detectives.
• Helicopter and drone assistance throughout the stretch of the game day.

Bolsonaro was ousted from office with Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva replacing him. Since then, Bolsonaro has been under investigation for a number of crimes, including an alleged attempt to stage a coup after the 2022 presidential elections. Yet, Bolsonaro’s supporters have continued their protests, with thousands attending a rally in February, amid the ongoing probe.

Never mind, safety concerns are there. Additionally, Brazil is also dealing with the Amazon wildfires and there is a threat of smoke in Sao Paulo as a result of these fires. If Brazil’s Environment Minister Marina Silva’s words are to be taken into account, then the country is indeed not in its best state.

“This is a veritable war against fire and against crime,” she told reporters on August 25. Sao Paulo, the state that will host the NFL game between the Packers and the Eagles, witnessed widespread fires running through rural sugarcane fields and ranches. The smoke also engulfed the city leading to the closure of schools and the grounding of flights.

Yet, despite the concerns from John Macco and NFL players, it is unlikely that the game will be moved to the United States.

Packers vs Eagles clash to set the tone for the 2024 NFL International Series

With only two days left, the chances of a cancellation are slim to none. Especially when you consider it from a business expansion angle. A smooth start in Brazil for Week 1 would be a big win for the NFL’s International Series. After all, the league is eager to plant its flag on turf, where ‘futbol’ reigns supreme over football.

This expansion to Brazil isn’t just a one-off play; it’s the start of something bigger as the league eyes England and Germany next—both nations already boasting a solid connection with the NFL. On October 6, the New York Jets will face the Minnesota Vikings at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Then a week later, the Chicago Bears will be playing the Jacksonville Jaguars in the same stadium.

In the week following these two games, Jacksonville will clash against the Patriots in Wembley Stadium in London, and on November 10, the NFL returns to Munich, Germany for a game between the Giants and the Panthers.

So, the stakes are high for the Packers vs Eagles game. But will it go as per plan? What do you think are the measures the league can incorporate for the Friday Night opener?