This Friday, the Green Bay Packers will begin their regular season by facing the Philadelphia Eagles in São Paulo, Brazil. The international contest will be the first NFL game to ever be played in South America. While Week 1 is exciting for all Packer Backers, this one will be an especially big deal for Marcus Rovere.
Since 2011, Rovere (a native of Porto Alegre, the capital of the Rio Grande do Sul state) has kept up with the team with his Packers Brasil (@PackersBR) Twitter account, and has amassed an audience of almost 25,000 followers along the way. Prior to Friday’s historic season opener in São Paulo, Milwaukee Record reached out to Rovere again—via email, due to the international nature of the interview—to ask him about the state of football in a country where futbol is king, his Packers-Eagles predictions, and whether the Packers are actually South America’s Team.
Milwaukee Record: Since we last talked back in 2015, has the popularity of the NFL in Brazil continued to grow? How have things changed in the last nine years?
Marcus Rovere: Oh, yes. It’s incredible how the NFL is popular now. You can easily find games to watch and get jerseys and goods. We have an official NFL shop in Brazil now, and the fans are everywhere. The NFL estimates that Brazil has almost 50 millions fans in Brazil now, so it’s getting even bigger.
MR: In your opinion, are the Packers the most popular team in the county?
Rovere: Absolutely. The Packers lead every pool of NFL fan pages or anything else related. The story of this team—the fact that the Packers belongs to the people—is something that we love to see and to be part of. In Brazil, our soccer clubs are like that. They belong to us, and this kind of connection makes Brazilian fans natural Packer fans.
MR: How does it feel to finally have a regular season NFL game played in your country? And what’s it like for it to be a game featuring the Packers?
Rovere: It’s still unbelievable. We are few days to the game and it’s still like I’m dreaming. When they announced a game in Brazil, I could never imagined that the Packers would be one of the teams, but when the said that the Eagles would come, it became a possibility. In April, when they announced the Packers, I got so emotional. I mean, it’s been so many years of me watching this team, creating content about the Packers, and making connections with people all around the world, and now they’re coming to play here? It’s like the best Christmas ever.
MR: Are you planning to go to the game?
Rovere: Yes! I would never miss that. I had bought flight tickets as soon as they announced the game. Even if one of the teams playing here wasn’t the Packers, I would be there. And with Packers [being involved], I’m so in.
MR: I know you’re not from São Paulo, but what are some things that Packers fans who are traveling to the game should do during their time in Brazil?
Rovere: I live in Porto Alegre, about 90 minutes away flying, so it’s easy to be there. São Paulo is one of the biggest cities in the world and has so many things to do. With you like art? There are options. Like food and restaurants? There’s options. Like parks and recreation? So many options. You want to go to the beach? You can also take an easy flight do Rio de Janeiro and enjoy one of the best beaches in the world. Want go to the bars and have a night experience? São Paulo is a 24/7 city. Whatever you want to do, you will find in this city.
MR: Any predictions for Friday’s game? And any predictions for how the Packers will do this season in general?
Rovere: It will be memorable. Not only for me and the Brazilian fans, but for everyone. Brazil is so passionate about art, music, and sports, and a lot of people will be surprised about how we love our teams and the Packers. I really hope to see the Packers winning this game and continue to show the great football that we have seen ins second leg of last season. The fans deserve it and the team deserves it.
MR: Anything else you’d like to say?
Rovere: We have read so many bad things about Brazil in the last days—from the nonsense green color ban to political things that have nothing to do with the game. I really hope that everyone can see how nice we are, how great Brazil is, and that everybody can have a time of their lives here.
