The NFL's Brazilian Butt Lift

America's biggest sports league is getting some more work done

Bet that got your attention, didn’t it? Well simmer down, as the only augmentation discussed here will be the NFL’s quest for — only a slight exaggeration — world domination.

The Jordan Love injury has been rightly identified, by most, as having very little to do with the field. That could’ve happened anywhere. However! You could not have watched that game and failed to notice how the players were slipping all over the place. That was a mess.

Anyone who’s ever played on a field like that knows the feeling. The usual studs aren’t gonna do it. You’re gonna need the spikes, and even then, traction’s gonna be hard to come by. It’s enough to make you think twice about even attempting the sorts of cuts that a football player needs to make in order to do his job.

For the average fan, then, the experience of watching that game might have been more frustrating than most. I’m not out here taking straw polls, but it seems that I wasn’t the only one with the above observations. The fact of it being on a Friday night was, for a lot of people, just fine though. Another night devoted to the country’s favorite sports league? Why not?

Still, the first question persists. And you’re allowed to ask it without being a xenophobe, by the way. It’s a perfectly reasonable thing to wonder. Why Brazil?

NFL fans will remember the league’s global push beginning with London games. Those started in 2007, further back than I realized. The first Mexico City game was even before that, way back in 2005. And as far back as the 70s, the NFL was playing preseason exhibition games outside of North America. Tokyo 1976 baby! Hell of a year.

That’s all to say: the curiosity to explore a global market has always been there. It was with the London series, however, that the NFL made it a consistent thing. Owing to the relative importance of each game in a team’s schedule, it’s also a thing with real stakes.

And those stakes are now growing, as the league’s travel itinerary grows with it. This year alone, the NFL will play five international game in three countries: Brazil, the UK, and Germany.

Out of a total set of 272, five isn’t so many. It’s more than one, but it still isn’t a ton. It’s not as drastic as what seemed like a real possibility there for a second, which was the Jacksonville Jaguars setting up in London full-time. Not that that’s been totally ruled out, nor is a future team in Mexico City, or Toronto.

Even without putting teams in these cities, though, the answer to the Brazil question is very simple. The NFL no longer thinks it can get by with just the American fanbase, loyal though they are. I mean, don’t get me wrong. They can get by just fine. But football might have already hit peak maturity in the U.S. market, if those rascally youngsters’ viewing habits are any indication.

The more readily addressable market is out there. They believe, with good reason, that more people around the world might watch football if they’re given more of a chance. They believe, with good reason, that the technology is now there to provide reliable access to their product (for a nominal fee of… a lot), even in countries where the NFL isn’t playing games, but especially those where they are.

They want to have a presence in a sports-happy country like Brazil, with its 215M+ people. They don’t need to elbow in on soccer, which they never will. They just want a piece, and I think they’ll get it. They already have, by their own numbers — which are probably generous, but still — close to 40 million fans there. That’s a lot! And they want more, who will follow the league, spend money to watch it, buy jerseys, travel to see more games in person, etc. Fandom is an ecosystem, and this is just one piece of how they aim to get more people inside theirs.

More countries will come. Next year will include Spain, and it sounds like Ireland and Australia could be next. If the geopolitical climate ever allows, we’d see a lot of leagues pursue games in China. Allies rather than adversaries, like Japan and South Korea, have got to be on their radar. And you better believe the stars of last week’s newsletter, Saudi Arabia, would be an eager host too.

The end game here probably requires fulfilling the 18-game schedule prophecy to work, which we’ve also touched on in editions past. That’s going to happen, and quite possibly before the current CBA expires in 2031. That negotiation will be about carrots rather than sticks, and it’ll be the same for any teams and players that question whether it’s worth it to hop on 10-hr. flights (in the case of Sao Paulo) to go and play this grueling sport on less than optimal field conditions around the world. Yeah, that sucks, but you’ll get a cut.

My guess is that will work. If the league can keep selling those games as special events that all their various rights partners presumably bid against one another to host, then that’s a good place for the league to be, holding yearly auctions for marquee matchups all around the world.

You see, friends, the butt lift was really about butts in seats all along. Whether you’re in the stadium in Sao Paulo, you’re on your couch in Nebraska, or you’re on your couch in Seoul, the NFL wants you to be watching. And they’re going to continue testing just how popular this sport can be abroad.

Also, This

🎾 The wait for American tennis greatness continues. Jessica Pegula, scion(ess…?) of the Buffalo Bills, put up a noble fight while totally outgunned in her final against Aryna Sabalenka. Taylor Fritz was less close than that in a pretty similar situation against Jannik Sinner. Fritz and Pegula just aren’t the same calibers of talent, and they each would’ve required worse performances out of Sabalenka and Sinner respectively in order to have had a chance at the title. Proud of both of those two, by the way. That was some power tennis we saw out there.

👩‍⚖️ I’ve watched with interest as the House v. NCAA settlement — the one that would allow schools to directly pay players, thus upending the entire model of collegiate sports — went on hold last week. Many have since noted that the judge in this case approving the settlement was no sure thing, and that’s obviously true. What is also true is that the NCAA sought out this deal because they wanted to avoid going to trial, where they fear the bills due would end up being higher. That’s still their fear, and it’s still why I think it’s more likely than not that they’ll work out this sticking point around collectives and come back to the table. Just a guess.

🏈 Now football’s really back. Owing to generations of Laura’s forebears, I’ve joined the Bills mafia, though I am notably not a made man, and won’t be for some time. Everyone’s gotta start somewhere, and I’m somewhere around the Dino Zerilli stage of this particular crime family. Remember this friggin’ guy to Jr.’s right? Sure you do.

Some initial thoughts on the Pegula family squad, now two games in:

• The roster’s not as loaded as it’s been, but it’s more balanced than I’d expected, and they were always going to be competitive with Josh Allen under center. I’d say this is probably an 10-7 to 11-6 team or so, which is plenty good enough to make a run.

• Really love the early showing from Khalil Shakir. He looks like the biggest beneficiary of Stefon Diggs leaving town. Crafty slot guy is such a good NFL archetype, and it’s a luxury to have one on your squad.

• That said, the Xavier Worthy trade already stings. Handing a guy like that to your big brother in KC is a tough one.

• And on a more somber note, last night brought us all back to a question many of us asked ourselves two years ago: should Tua Tagovailoa, given his well-documented risk of concussions, still be playing football? Really sad to see, and Damar Hamlin being the one on the other side of that hit was unscriptably ironic. So there’s your unwelcome reminder that watching this sport poses serious moral dilemmas.

⚾ As for my first love, I’ve officially given up on this year of Cardinals baseball. I’m not sure if changes are coming, though I’d definitely advocate that some should. Depresso times under the Arch this season. I’m onto JJ Wetherholt (don’t) forecasts. Get it? ‘Cause weather? Yup. That’s our cue.