It’s hard to ask the question, and frankly, it feels a bit pointless, when we already know the answer is a combination of money, politics, and an unstoppable avalanche of what we fondly call capitalism, but which is in reality nothing more than a savage exploitation for money and attention. Nevertheless, sometimes we want our opinions to be heard. And after watching the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Green Bay Packers, 34-29, in a stadium that’s impossible to drive to from the Philadelphia suburbs across something called the Darien Gap, I have a feeling that some people do want their opinions to be heard.
I have reluctantly accepted that in five years, the NFL will have its tentacles in every aspect of our lives. The league will soon have a 20-game regular season. Games will begin over Labor Day weekend, then be postponed until National Buttered Corn Day (August 23, sorry if you forgot), and finally Independence Day. Replica uniforms will be fully integrated into our workwear rotation, and thanks to FanDuel being fully integrated into our personal financial plans, we’ll have the option to have our paychecks deposited directly into us immediately or be contingent on the outcome of Thursday Night Football. For the most part, this is part of the life cycle of the product that captivated us all.
But there was something about the Eagles and Packers starting their seasons thousands of miles apart that bothered me more than I expected. It was after Saquon Barkley scored the second of his three touchdowns in his Eagles debut, running around the corner of the end zone with his arms outstretched. I personally know two dozen people who make it their life goal to go to Lincoln Financial Field and experience that moment: the whirlwind of arrogance and self-satisfaction when their favorite team steals the best and most popular player from their former rival, and then they take a picture of themselves with their middle finger up after that player does something amazing and then they text it to New York Giants fans. They waited for the live stream to buffer, and watched it for $10 from another continent. Soon after, the broadcast showed footage of Corinthians fans cheering after a goal at a football game in the same stadium, and their reaction was just as visceral, endearing and somehow nostalgic. I thought how strange it would have been for the Brazilian fans watching if that goal had happened on a grass field somewhere in Charlotte.
Let’s stop for a moment and be clear that we should all support international soccer. Truly dedicated international fans are the most soccer-savvy people on the planet and have far more barriers to entry when it comes to connecting with the sport. We don’t own soccer, and we’re better off as a society of fans when everyone can experience the sport first-hand. Let’s also be clear that these ideas have nothing to do with Brazil itself.
Instead, the idea is that commissioner Roger Goodell plans to double the international schedule and start selling games to popular cities around the world, as he said in a pregame interview in Brazil. The idea is that the league’s efforts to make more in revenue than the GDP of Luxembourg won’t diminish the very deep and tangible roots the sport has here in the U.S. When it comes to the NFL calendar, for example, opening weekend should be as sacred as Thanksgiving. If fans are going to sacrifice a home game, why not make it the home opener? It’s the first and maybe only chance to watch a game while the team is still undefeated and driven by foolish hopes and ambitions.
The kind of people who live for the moment, who are reborn for the day, who form the unshakable foundation of the NFL’s business model, who have stayed in the league through all of the league’s embarrassing moments, who spend a significant percentage of their revenues on the mafia-like blood oaths of tickets, parking, memorabilia and private seat licenses, are not worth missing the chance to be on air wearing a Giants Barkley jersey with some obscene word written over the logo with duct tape.
I know that’s weirdly specific, but the only people who really thought this game was a great idea were the fans in Brazil, who would have been just as happy if a game that didn’t matter as much to the fanbase here had been played in Week 9. And then there was the increasingly ultra-rich ownership class that has largely lost touch with their core consumers. The kind of Eagles and Packers fans who don’t seem to understand that Friday night is like getting notified that this year’s family Christmas party is on the dark side of the moon and you have to own a personal spaceship to attend.
If you’re so keen to showcase the NFL in different venues, hold it at Penn State’s Beaver Stadium, where Eagles and Packers fans can camp out together for the weekend in a parking lot the size of the Kalahari Desert. And, incidentally, hold it somewhere where you can be almost 100% sure that an actual football game can be played and that you won’t have to unleash the NFL’s best skill position players on a field that mimics the surface of an ice cap. The field conditions in London and Munich were similarly poor, at least according to players who complained after the fact.
Again, I’m not sure why this happened. The first two games of this season have shown the power of the drug the NFL can now sell around the world. This road show will succeed in sucking millions of dollars into this financial void, all while taking a toll on local fans, players, coaches, officials and staff. This is truly a perfect sport, and it’s a hard one to share, especially on a night that feels as far away as Friday.