Meet the dedicated fans who traveled to Brazil for Chiefs’ international game
The Kansas City Chiefs kicked off their season in São Paulo, and thousands of fans from all over the world followed them. The scenes from inside Corinthians Arena showed fans wearing jerseys and merchandise for every NFL team. Still, Chiefs red was the most vibrant on television screens, effectively nearly turning this neutral-site game into the team’s 10th home game of the season.
Chiefs fans took different paths to Brazil last week, but all roads led to Friday, Sept. 5’s clash against the Los Angeles Chargers. Some used the NFL’s OnLocation travel package, which put them right in the middle of all the fan activity. Others met up with friends living in Brazil, whom they haven’t seen in decades, getting their own personal tour of the country while catching up on life.
The result of the game wasn’t what any Chiefs fan wanted, but it didn’t prevent any of the traveling fans from having the times of their lives. A few fans shared their experiences with The Star, and gave us a look at what they ate and saw while visiting the South American country.
A reunion with a foreign exchange student
Kansas City native Patti Jefferson once hosted a foreign exchange student 18 years ago. The student, Pedro Blumberg-Moiera, is Brazilian, but was living in Germany with his mom and grandma at the time of the exchange program.
Blumberg-Moiera was originally set to head to Oklahoma City in 2007, but bounced around at a few homes since those weren’t fit to host. Jefferson was never planning to host a student, but invited Blumberg-Moiera into her home because he and her son were getting along so well at Raytown High School.
Jefferson now considers Blumberg-Moiera her second son, staying in touch with him over the years. He even flew from Rio de Janeiro to Aspen, Colorado, to be at her son’s wedding in 2024. Now, it was his turn to host Jefferson, if only for a week.
Her journey started in Rio de Janeiro on Monday, Sept. 1, where the former exchange student and his fiancé, Mila, currently live. Her flight path saw her go from Kansas City to Miami, where she had a 10-hour layover after experiencing four delays and a canceled flight before landing in Brazil. She booked a hotel near Copacabana Beach, and when she wasn’t hanging out at the beach, she was sightseeing with Blumberg-Moiera.
They packed as much as they could in three days before traveling to São Paulo for the game. She saw the Christ the Redeemer statue and Sugarloaf Mountain and ate traditional foods like Farofa, which are topped with Manioc flour, a flour that’s native to Latin and South American countries. She even got to meet and have lunch with his 88-year-old grandmother.
The Chiefs game was the main reason for her trip, and she was determined to go to the game at all costs. She purchased her tickets from StubHub and was originally planning to go with her friends, but when her friends couldn’t make it, Blumberg-Moiera happily stepped up after Jefferson’s daughter asked him if he’d go, having been converted to a Chiefs fan during his time in Kansas City.
“He was a Chiefs fan when he was here, and became one when he went home,” Jefferson said. “Full circle, he gets to go to a Chiefs game in Brazil. How amazing is that?”
They left to go from Rio de Janeiro to São Paulo on Thursday, Sept. 4, and planned to stay there a few days after the game ended. Her seats were six rows on the Chargers side of the field, and she took the subway to the stadium to get more sightseeing in before the season opener.
While there is disappointment in losing, Jefferson said the trip was well worth it. On hotels, airfare, meals, Ubers and other expenses, she spent a total of $7,026, with $2,897 spent on the tickets to the game.
“(Going to the game) is the excitement in me, but to share it with him is just the most warming feeling,” Jefferson said.
International travelers
Some Chiefs fans who traveled to São Paulo for the game also went to London and Frankfurt, Germany, for those international games in 2015 and 2023, respectively.
Lee Ann Thorp was one of those fans. She left for the Brazil game Sept. 1 with her husband, going from Kansas City to Atlanta, then Atlanta to São Paulo, landing Tuesday, Sept. 2. They met up with their daughter and her husband while in Brazil, and a lot of their team was spent walking around the streets of São Paulo.
No one with her on this trip went to London when the Chiefs played the Lions, and her husband joined her in Frankfurt when the Chiefs played the Dolphins.
They visited Campos do Jordão, a Brazilian municipality in São Paulo, the botanical garden Amantikir Park, brewery Cervejaria Baden, the manmade waterfall Duch de Prata, took a cable ride up Elephant Hill and made it to the top of Itapeva Peak, a mountain in the municipality.
She purchased the tickets through OnLocation, which kept her family near the game site, even though the closest hotels were two hours away from the stadium. The ticket package also put them near more Chiefs fans who chose the same option.
Thorp’s total spent was $4,900, and her family is already looking for a reason to go back in the future. The next time she does, she’ll have a little bit of Portuguese in her back pocket.
“The biggest difference from going to London and Frankfurt games is only 5% of the population in São Paulo speaks English, so lots of Google Translate and hand motions to communicate,” Thorp said. “Also, we had to get a visa to travel.”
“Now we head home unfortunately without a Chiefs win but with memories that will last a lifetime,” Thorp said on Facebook.
A return to São Paulo
Phil Griffith, who was born in Kansas City but now resides in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, was last in São Paulo 20 years ago on a business trip. This trip for the Chiefs game was all about relaxing for the man in his 70s.
His path saw him fly from Lake Tahoe to Houston, where the connecting flight then got him and his girlfriend to the Brazilian city Tuesday, Sept. 2. A lot has changed since he last visited, but the one thing that stayed the same was the traffic.
Griffith said it took him two hours to get from São Paulo’s airport to the hotel, and it also took two hours to get to the hotel to the stadium on that Friday, which Google Maps said is only a 50-minute drive away.
Other than the traffic, Griffith more than enjoyed his vacation. He walked around, ate at numerous restaurants by the hotel and took part in a watch party for the Dallas Cowboys vs Philadelphia Eagles game Thursday, Sept. 4, which was hosted at the hotel as a part of the OnLocation package he purchased.
The hotel was decked out in Chiefs colors, from either the fans wearing hats, jerseys and shirts to the elevators inside featuring team decorations. Fans could even take pictures with a cardboard cutout of KC Wolf.
He noted how most of the people in the hotel are of the older crowd, himself and his girlfriend included. He attributed that to the $7,700 price tag he spent on everything to get to São Paulo.
“ I guess, to afford this, you have to be a little older,” Griffith said. “But they’re all obviously dedicated fans.”
His experience in the hotel felt more like a convention with everything decked out in Chiefs gear. He did get over the loss Friday very quickly, as he extended his trip to go to Mendoza and Buenos Aires, Argentina, to do some wine tasting and more relaxing.
