Author: Victor Fransciso
Editor: Casey Frost
If Brazil performs well in flag football at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, it will be largely due to the history of American football in the state of São Paulo. While American football has had different beginnings in other Brazilian states, in São Paulo, it started via the flags.
In the early 2000s, the rare sight of an American football being tossed randomly from hand to hand by a few curious individuals turned into a regular activity with rules at Ibirapuera Park, specifically near the Obelisk in São Paulo's capital.
The first teams in São Paulo started forming by way of flag football. From there emerged the embryos of São Paulo Storm and Corinthians Steamrollers, the two powerhouse teams of American football in the early 2010s, which had their origins in the Silverbullets and Diadema Steamrollers during the flag football era.
But what spurred the interest in American football in São Paulo and other parts of Brazil? Certainly, TV broadcasts on open channel (Bandeirantes) and cable (ESPN). Before the 2000s, these broadcasts were rare and happened less than once a month, but in the 21st century, they became more frequent, increasing public interest and participation in the sport.
While things got serious with flag football in São Paulo's parks, in the south of the country (specifically in Paraná and Santa Catarina), games were played simply on soccer fields without any equipment. It was in this enthusiastic atmosphere that Paraná's teams grew and organized the first official American football match in Brazil.
After eight years of playing without equipment, Brown Spiders, the pioneer, and Barigui Crocodiles, the challenger, finally secured the financial means to hold the historic game with pads and helmets on October 25, 2008. The Spiders' 33-10 victory was not only important for American football in Curitiba but it was the first seed planted for the sport, as it is played in the US, to spread across Brazil.
The following year, in 2009, a friendly state tournament was held, which gave birth to the first national championship, the Touchdown Tournament (Torneio Touchdown). The finalists? São Paulo Storm, whose roots we've already mentioned here, stemming from flag football, and Rio de Janeiro Imperadores.
The Rio de Janeiro team reached the final as a product of beach football. Since 1999, the beach game has become Brazil's longest-running American football tournament, still contested today. The Carioca Bowl produced many national sport’s talents, including the champions of the first Touchdown Tournament. The Imperadores' victory on November 22, 2009, by 14-07, was the final spark for Brazilians' passion for American football.
With the rest of the country seeing that it was possible to hold a national championship, more NFL broadcasts on television, and easier access to imported equipment, the number of teams increased exponentially. The decade from 2010 to 2020 marked the consolidation of American football, with national and regional championships.
Between 2010 and 2015, there were two national championships contested, with strong teams from various parts of Brazil consolidating their programs: Corinthians Steamrollers in São Paulo, Coritiba Crocodiles in Paraná, Cuiabá Arsenal in Mato Grosso, Flamengo Imperadores in Rio de Janeiro, and João Pessoa Espectros in Paraíba. In 2015, Brazil made history by participating in the International Federation of American Football (IFAF) World Cup.
By the end of the decade, from 2016 to 2019, the tournaments had gained space in traditional media, with the 2018 final broadcast on BandSports and the grand final of 2019 on ESPN Brazil. The technical dominance of João Pessoa Espectros over T-Rex (from Santa Catarina) in Blumenau was the peak of Brazilian American football, with a game worthy of being on the world's largest sports network.
Including flag football and beach football teams, Brazil has 329 teams across all regions. The BFA League, which became the only national tournament from 2016 to 2019, was the only national team sports league to have teams from all regions of Brazil represented in its first division.
In contrast to the brilliant projection before 2020, the post-pandemic period dealt a hard blow to a sport that survives on the self-funding of its players—pure passion. Many teams were forced into hibernation or merged to reduce costs.
Another side effect of the financial difficulties faced by American football was the growth of flag football throughout Brazil. Previously concentrated mainly in São Paulo (but with strong teams also in the northern, midwest, and southern regions) and primarily played by women, flag football multiplied and began attracting the attention of men—who had almost entirely played only American football.
In addition to being cheaper for travel and equipment, flag football promises to gain more sponsorship investments with the possibility of Olympic inclusion. The dream of representing Brazil and possibly reaching the podium in Los Angeles in four years is set to be the new—and sustainable—boom of green-and-yellow American football in the current decade.
*Brazil currently ranks 13th in the women’s flag football world rankings. And 19th and 6th, respectively, in the men’s flag football and American football world rankings.
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