Sports

Super Bowl a cinematic affair in Brazil

super bowl mahomes
Fans ahead of Super Bowl game. Photo: YES Market Media/Shutterstock

Welcome back to the Brazil Sports newsletter! This week, Brazilians flocking to watch Super Bowl LIV at the … movie theater? We also have the shameful history of the number 24 shirt in Brazilian football, and a long-standing intolerance showing signs of being toppled. Finally, a look ahead to the women’s national championship, in what is set to be a huge year for the female game in Brazil. Enjoy your read!

A night at the movies with Super Bowl LIV 

On Sunday night, the Kansas City Chiefs ended a hoodoo of over five decades to win Super Bowl LIV in Miami, beating the San Francisco 49ers with a dramatic late comeback. The final was watched closely all over the world, but particularly in Brazil—one of the NFL’s most promising markets.

Game Night, but not as we know it. Besides the countless Super Bowl parties at homes and bars around the country, Brazil has developed another way to watch the big game: screening it live at movie theaters. For the last eight years, broadcaster ESPN and cinema chain Cinelive have teamed up to show the Super Bowl at over 100 cinemas across the country, in sold-out events that have helped drag in even more fans of American football in Brazil.

Still growing. Brazil is known worldwide as the country of football, a sport which has traditionally been so dominant that it hasn’t left room for much else to grow. Other outsider sports have traditionally included Formula 1, volleyball, basketball, and mixed martial arts, all sports in which Brazil has usually had a homegrown hero to cheer for. The growth of American football, therefore, is surprising, as Brazil has little to no representation within the NFL—unless you count New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, the husband of Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bündchen.

Nevertheless, support continues to grow. A study carried out by respected pollster Ibope with Brazilian sports fans online showed that 24 percent of respondents were “fans of American football.” While this is already a significant slice of the population, it is made even more impressive by the fact that this popularity has increased 50 percent since 2013.

NFL in Brazil? Since 2007, the NFL has held at least one regular-season game overseas. Initially in London—which hosted four matches in the 2019 season—and expanding to Mexico City in 2016, which now receives one game a year at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. As Brazil is the second-largest foreign market for the NFL behind Mexico, there have been talks over expanding the league’s “International Series” to the country, with São Paulo’s Arena Corinthians the most likely venue.


The redemption of the 24 shirt

cantillo
Photo: Daniel Vorley/AGIF

In some countries, the number 13 shirt is avoided due to superstition. In Italy, the number 17 is seen as bringing bad luck. In German football...

Don't miss this opportunity!

Interested in staying updated on Brazil and Latin America? Subscribe to start receiving our reports now!