The National Football League (NFL) is making its 2025 regular season opener, a historic game set to be played in São Paulo, Brazil, available for free to a worldwide audience exclusively through a landmark partnership with YouTube.
The highly anticipated Week 1 matchup, featuring the Kansas City Chiefs and the Los Angeles Chargers, is scheduled for Friday, September 5, 2025, at Corinthians Arena.
This game marks a significant milestone for the NFL, representing the league’s return to Brazil and the first time it will begin its regular season in South America.
Under the terms of the newly announced agreement, YouTube will serve as the sole global live streaming destination for the game. This allows football fans across the vast majority of the world to tune in without needing a paid subscription, significantly expanding the potential reach of the NFL’s international growth initiatives by leveraging YouTube’s massive user base.
While the primary worldwide stream on YouTube will be free, certain regional restrictions apply. The game will not be available for free streaming in Canada and a limited number of other specified countries. In the United States, domestic access will include availability on mobile devices via the NFL+ subscription service, as well as being accessible to YouTube TV subscribers. Furthermore, adhering to the NFL’s long-standing policy, the game will also be broadcast on free, over-the-air television in the local markets of the participating Chiefs and Chargers teams.
Hans Schroeder, NFL Executive Vice President of Media Distribution, said, “We are excited to expand our relationship with YouTube to bring this year’s Brazil game to a worldwide audience. YouTube and YouTube TV have been incredible partners of the NFL for several years and boast an immense global reach, and we look forward to Week 1 in São Paulo.”
Mary Ellen Coe, Chief Business Officer, YouTube, added, “Last year, people spent over 350 million hours watching official NFL content on YouTube, so it’s both fitting and thrilling to continue to build our relationship with our partners at the NFL. Streaming the Friday night game to fans for free around the world will mark YouTube’s first time as a live NFL broadcaster — and we’ll do it in a way that only YouTube can, with an interactive viewing experience and creators right at the centre of the experience.”
This exclusive free live stream builds upon the existing deep relationship between the NFL and Google, which includes YouTube’s role as the exclusive US home of the NFL Sunday Ticket since the 2023 season. By offering a prominent regular-season game for free on its main platform, YouTube aims to attract a massive global audience and further showcase its capabilities in live sports broadcasting to advertisers and viewers alike.
The decision underscores the NFL’s ongoing strategy to explore diverse distribution methods to reach fans globally, complementing traditional television partnerships with digital-first approaches for key international games and special fixtures. Offering the Brazil game as a free global stream reflects the league’s commitment to making the sport more accessible and growing its international fanbase.
In addition to the regular season game, YouTube and the NFL have also agreed to a multi-year deal for the annual Super Bowl Flag Football game, which features creators and musical artists. This partnership follows the significant success of their first collaboration on the Super Bowl LVIII Flag Football Game, which garnered over six million live views on YouTube, and will include additional international flag football games.
