This is how Billy Joel, Paul McCartney and Chris Brown complicated the 2025 NFL schedule
The NFL schedule is a complicated beast, and when stadiums are used as concert venues, it just gets even more complex.
The Los Angeles Chargers will face the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 1 of the 2025 NFL season, and although the Chargers are technically the home team, they’ll be playing on international turf. Their first game will be in São Paulo, Brazil for the league’s second annual Week 1 Friday game at Corinthians Arena.
CHAMA pic.twitter.com/tV7V04fKm7
— Los Angeles Chargers (@chargers) May 14, 2025
While the Chargers were already upset at losing their home-field advantage against a tough divisional rival, they won’t even get to ease the pain with a home game the following week either. Typically, the NFL would give teams a home game the week after playing internationally. NFL Vice President of Broadcast Planning and Schdeuling Mike North explains why the Chargers don’t get that luxury.
How Chris Brown ruined the Chargers’ chances at a Week 2 home game
Mike North is in charge of scheduling all the games for the NFL season. He prefers to give a home game or, even better, a bye week to teams the week after they play abroad. But this year threw some curveballs at him. He explained that the reason the Chargers won’t get their home game is because of singer Chris Brown, who has a concert at SoFi Stadium the following Sunday.
“Chris Brown has SoFi in LA Week 2,” said North on the Rich Eisen Show. “He booked that months ago, before we booked the Chargers to go to Brazil… There’s no bye in Week 2. So, hey Chargers, [we’re] happy to bring you back to a home game after Brazil like we did for the Eagles and the Packers. But your building is blocked!”
He then explained that he would try to at least give them a road game that wouldn’t require them to travel too far (against their East coast opponents, for example). He thought the best-case scenario would be to schedule a game against the Las Vegas Raiders, as it’s only a little over an hour flight to Vegas. However, he ran into another booking issue.
“We were hoping to send them to Vegas - nice, close trip. Their building’s blocked! They’ve got a boxing match and a UNLV game on Saturday,” said North.
He went on to explain that the Raiders agreed to host the Chargers on Monday night in Week 2 instead. So although they will have to come back from Brazil to play a road game, at least it’s not too far from home and they’ll have at least one extra day to recover as well.
North also mentioned other complications while planning the NFL schedule included Billy Joel’s rescheduled concert and Paul McCartney’s tour. The full, 272-game, 18-week schedule for the NFL’s 2025 season was released on Wednesday. The season will kick off with a divisional game between Super Bowl defending champions Philadelphia Eagles hosting the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday night.
Get your game on! Whether you’re into NFL touchdowns, NBA buzzer-beaters, world-class soccer goals, or MLB home runs, our app has it all.
Dive into live coverage, expert insights, breaking news, exclusive videos, and more – plus, stay updated on the latest in current affairs and entertainment. Download now for all-access coverage, right at your fingertips – anytime, anywhere.
Complete your personal details to comment
Your opinion will be published with first and last names