BY MARCEL KERR
As the world continues shrinking in the palms of our hands, the NFL continues expanding its brand worldwide.
In May, the NFL announced it would feature seven games during the 2025 season in South America and Europe. Those matchups will give seven NFL officiating crews opportunities to stamp their passports for business travel.
“I have not talked to anyone on our staff who does not want to work an international game,” said referee Ron Torbert, a veteran of 15 NFL seasons and two games overseas. “They don’t come around very often, so when they do, we’re all excited about working them.”
Torbert, also a two-time Super Bowl white hat, was the man with the mic for the NFL’s first foray to South America when the Green Bay Packers and Philadelphia Eagles played their Week 1 contest last season in São Paulo. For 2025, the league will send teams back to São Paulo and Berlin for second go-rounds, as well as London, an annual host city since 2007. It also will debut in Dublin and Madrid. If the inaugural edition in Brazil is any indication, the games in Ireland and Spain will have distinct levels of fanaticism.
“The atmosphere was unbelievable … more like a soccer game than an NFL game,” Torbert said. “The energy was more constant. The crowd was singing and chanting during the game. Everyone was enjoying themselves.”
The game and its lead-up may have been novel for the locals, but Torbert approached it much the same as he does any other regular-season game.
He spearheaded some of the logistics to facilitate the travel and stay for 24 crewmates and guests. The NFL wanted the crew in São Paulo three days before kickoff, and all international flights land in Brazil in the morning.
“There were quite a few similarities to getting ready for a Super Bowl,” said Torbert, whose wife, son and daughter-in-law accompanied him. “It’s a destination game, and a lot of family members want to go. Figuring out who would attend, how many hotel rooms we would need, how many tickets we would need … that was very similar to those first few days of receiving a Super Bowl assignment. The league did most of the work once we told them what airlines and flights we wanted. That’s what they normally do during the season.”
Neither the additional administrative duties nor Brazil’s tourist enticements distracted Torbert from his habitual preparation process.
“Because it was a game that mattered, I wanted to focus my energy on the game itself,” he said. “I knew I would have a couple of days afterward to do some sightseeing, so I wanted to stay in my usual regular-season routine.”
One of the men who worked with Torbert in Brazil was Keith Washington, a side judge with 17 NFL seasons under his belt. In the aftermath of the pandemic, Washington established a mentoring connection with several Brazilian officials who work in the Superliga Nacional de Futebol Americano.
The American football-style competition utilizes NCAA rules and mechanics, but Washington’s partnership and guidance are no less valuable to the officials from Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.
“It was a thrilling serendipity,” Washington said of receiving the news about opening the season in Brazil last year. “I go there all the time and interact with a bunch of their officials. It was because of their wishes and prayers that I ended up with the game. The outpouring of emotion and admiration they have for us is really nice.”
Washington, who, like Torbert, worked Super Bowl LVI between the Los Angeles Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals, observed another aspect in which the Brazil game differed from domestic season-openers.
“In a normal regular-season NFL game, everything pretty much happens on Sunday,” he said. “People show up for the game, they may tailgate, they watch the game and they go home. The international game provides more entertainment for the fans throughout the week, and that energy carries over into the stadium.”
Fans notice all the fun and engaging aspects of the NFL’s presence on foreign soil, but they miss the grunt work league personnel invest to put on a game that feels like an average Sunday in the States. Corinthians Arena in São Paulo needed a substantial upgrade within a short period of time.
“One of the things that stood out to me was how quickly the NFL turned that stadium into an NFL-ready-for-TV stadium,” Torbert said. “The Corinthian soccer club had a match there the weekend before the game. Immediately after that match was over, the NFL took over the stadium, and in five days turned it into a stadium ready to broadcast an NFL game.
“It had no instant-replay capability. When viewers tuned to the telecast, they didn’t know what happened behind the scenes. They didn’t know the work the NFL had to put in during that week and the equipment they either had to fly down or bring in by ship to turn the stadium around. It was phenomenal.”
The first time the NFL showcased a regular-season game beyond U.S. borders was October 2005. The Arizona Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers squared off at Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca. London’s 18-year run has given the NFL enough evidence of a surging global popularity that has led to an enlarged portfolio. While they are nice feathers in an official’s hat, Torbert suggests they remain in their proper context.
“The Super Bowls and all the playoff games are rewards for doing well during the season,” he said. “The international games tend to be for everyone to work over the years. I am extremely proud to say my crew was the first to work at an NFL game in Brazil. It certainly ranks from an experience standpoint with any of the playoff games I’ve ever worked, but it is a regular-season game.
“For my family and me, São Paulo really was an experience of a lifetime. It’s a big, bustling city with lots of traffic, and the language barrier wasn’t big. My Portuguese was non-existent, but there were plenty of hotel staff who spoke English. I hope the NFL continues to play games in Brazil, and anytime they want to send me back there, I am willing to go.”
THIS ARTICLE IS FROM THE SEPTEMBER 2025 ISSUE OF REFEREE MAGAZINE. To get great officiating content like this delivered to you for only $5 per month, SUBSCRIBE TO REFEREE MAGAZINE TODAY.
Marcel Kerr officiates high school and college football, basketball, volleyball and softball. He lives in Atlanta.
