The NFL is nearly 20 years into a 100-year (if not longer) plan to globalize the game. And that entails exporting the NFL product to other countries.
For fans at home, that’s fine and dandy — as long as the game looks and feels the same on TV. Friday night’s game between the Packers and Eagles didn’t, because the field in São Paulo was a slippery mess.
Of course, it was also a slippery mess in Super Bowl LVII. That game also featured the Eagles.
There’s no excuse for it, domestically or internationally. It becomes even worse when it happens in other countries, especially as to games that, if they’d been played in the “home” team’s stadium, would have entailed a satisfactory (at a minimum) surface.
When it happened in the Super Bowl, the league tried to blame the players. Which is sort of ridiculous. It’s for the league to ensure that the playing surface performs, no matter the elements. And if it isn’t raining or snowing, there are no elements to consider.
It undermines the game. It increases the risk of injury. And when it happens in international games, it makes fans more resentful of the process of playing games away from the USA.
