Chargers vs. Chiefs in Brazil a blueprint for

SÃO PAULO, Brazil — The Chargers performed host to the Kansas City Chiefs on Friday in the first of the NFL’s document seven worldwide video games, with upcoming matchups between different groups in London, Madrid, Dublin and Berlin. Next season, the Rams will plant a flag in Australia with a regular-season sport in Melbourne, the league’s first foray Down Under.

The NFL is targeted on a long-range worldwide strategy, not a collection of one-off curiosities.

“It’s the opposite of the circus comes to town,” said Peter O’Reilly, NFL government vice president of membership business, worldwide and league occasions. “It’s not one-and-done. It’s play the game and be engaged year-round. All clubs now have the rights in at least one market and that’s a long-term commitment. We’re investing in the long term to become a true global sport property.”

That will take some doing, particularly in nations such as Brazil, where American soccer barely registers a blip on the sports activities radar with curiosity dwarfed by the eagerness for soccer.

Still, Corinthians Arena was crammed to the brim Friday evening with almost 50,000 people, and followers — overwhelmingly adorned in purple Chiefs jerseys — who stood the bulk of the sport.

O’Reilly calls it the pebble-in-the-pond impact. Stage a sport and watch as ripples unfold throughout the area. Last month, the NFL signed a multi-year deal with Globo, Brazil’s largest media company.

“Ultimately, it’s about building fans and providing as much reach as possible,” he said. “Yes, the financials are important at the end of the day, but it’s really about reach. How do we bring the NFL to more fans? This game was streamed free on YouTube around the world. We’re just opening up to a much wider audience.”

Said NFL commissioner Roger Goodell: “We know we have 36 million fans in Brazil. … Our players, and even our coaches, enjoy being on the global stage.”

The particular person groups are getting more concerned as properly, reasonably than leaving the heavy lifting up to the NFL. For the latest Brazil sport — the second in São Paulo and only the second regular-season NFL sport in the Southern Hemisphere — both the Chargers and Chiefs hosted ticketed events for their followers and varied influencers from around the world.

At Chiefs House on Thursday evening, Goodell and Chiefs proprietor Clark Hunt participated in a panel interview then bought behind the bar and poured beer for the attendees.

“This is my favorite job, being a bartender,” said Goodell, standing beside an ice chest of Budweisers and filling plastic cups. “You make people happy… They don’t boo you here.”

Recording artist Karol G performs at halftime during the Chargers’ win over the Chiefs in São Paulo, Brazil, on Friday evening.

(Buda Mendes / Getty Images)

In the panel dialogue, Hunt said: “We’ve been very transparent about our desire to become the world’s team. Now we get to come to the most important country in South America and introduce them to Chiefs-style football.”

After a couple hours, the person often voted the most highly effective government in sports activities hopped in a sprinter van and made his means to the Chargers social gathering, where membership proprietor Dean Spanos did some mingling with party-goers, posing for pictures with a large crew flag a fan handed him.

By sport’s end Friday, it was Spanos who left pleased, with the Chargers upsetting the defending AFC champions, 27-21, beating Kansas City for the first time in eight tries.

Chargers proprietor Dean Spanos attends a crew social gathering in São Paulo, Brazil, on Thursday forward of the crew’s win over the Kansas City Chiefs on Friday.

(Sam Farmer / Los Angeles Times)

Unlike last 12 months, when the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers had hassle discovering their footing on a taking part in floor designed for soccer, the grass held up this time. It was a newly put in hybrid discipline of rye and artificial grass that may endure the damage and tear of 300-pound combatants.

“No complaints at all,” Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh said after the victory. “The atmosphere was great. The field was great. Everything was a plus-plus. Brazil has a real good place in my heart from now on.”

The NFL feels the same means.

“We’re still a challenger; we know that soccer is clearly No. 1,” O’Reilly said. “But we believe we’ve got the runway to really grow. There are not that many barriers for us. It’s really just about our commitment to getting after it and building the fan base. We’re seeing results.”