Why are the Eagles wearing white and the Packers green if Philadelphia is designated ‘home’ team?

The 2024 National Football League season officially got underway on Thursday evening with a hotly contested clash between the three-peat chasing Chiefs and the Ravens. It was a 27-20 win for the team from Kansas but, as tends to happen, focus immediately turns to what’s next. And that, my friends, is our first international game of the season.

Brazilian soccer drives NFL team love

That’s right, we’ve got a highly-anticipated Friday night game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Green Bay Packers, both teams being tipped by some pundits as having the potential to run deep into the postseason. While that’s a long way off, their opener is being played in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and it has seen local rivalries influence the colours being used by the teams.

The Eagles were designated as the home team for this encounter and as such would be expected to wear their traditional green. That, however, is the dominant colour of soccer club Palmeiras, the bitter rival of Corinthians, who are hosting the Game in their NeoQuimica Arena. Instead, and to curry favour with the locals, the Philadelphia stars will wear white jerseys, along with black pants and helmet. Black and white being the shades used by Corinthians.

Now, while green is a very much frowned upon by the hosts – so much so that they even attempted to paint the field black a number of years ago – they have no problem with visiting teams utilising it. Step forward the Packers, who will be wearing their traditional white, yellow and green jersey, somewhat similar you may notice to the Brazilian national flag.

For the fans, NFL loyalties appear to be aligning with their soccer teams, Palmeiras supporters donning green for the Packers and Corinthians maintaining the home love. How bonds can be built.