Meet the Fans Who Were Overjoyed to Welcome the NFL to São Paulo for Brazil’s First International Game (Exclusive)

The NFL hosted their first international game of the new season at Arena Corinthians in São Paulo on Sept. 6, and Brazilian fans couldn’t get enough of the American football league’s presence in the country.

The Philadelphia Eagles defeated Green Bay Packers 34-29 in a tight matchup as thousands of Brazilian fans cheered on the teams during their one-night-only opportunity to catch the NFL outside of the United States.

To celebrate the new season and promote the NFL’s presence internationally, NBC enlisted seven popular influencers to travel to São Paulo with PEOPLE for NBC’s Transcontinental Tailgate to take in the action and fanfare.

Influencer Allison Kuch, whose husband Isaac Rochell formerly played for the Las Vegas Raiders, tells PEOPLE the the arena in São Paulo was “so beautiful” and the fans who attended had “awesome” energy.

Social media stars Pierson Wodzynski, Erika Priscilla, Jojo Sim, Austin Sprinz, Nate Wyatt and Chef Cuso were in the arena for the game, where Brazilian singer Anitta performed during halftime.

Attendees of the game were treated to exclusive opportunities to pose with the Vince Lombardi trophy, explore a collection of Super Bowl rings and try their hand at playing quarterback in a fun interactive field game.

“I’ve never been able to see an NFL team play,” Natalia Souza — a Dallas Cowboys fan who purchased her tickets as soon as they went on sale — tells PEOPLE. “It was very crazy to get tickets because everybody here in Brazil, and I believe in other countries next to here, wanted to buy too,” she adds.

Dancers performed traditional Brazilian dances outside the arena as attendees explored the fan zone activations.

Although only two NFL teams competed in Brazil, fans of all the league’s teams came out to the game for the NFL’s big night. Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce jerseys dominated among the Brazilian fans, along with retired superstar Tom Brady’s former Patriots jersey.

Many Brazilian fans at the arena say they were surprised that the NFL picked São Paulo for its international game because they would have assumed Rio de Janiero, a more “touristy” city according to a group of São Paulo natives, would have been the top choice.

Denver Broncos fan Luisa Santos, who traveled “about an hour flying” to attend says she “thought it was a possibility” that the NFL would come to Brazil because “the amount of Brazilian fans is really growing.”

“I had to ditch work,” Luisa admits. “But I was able to attend and that’s the most exciting part.”

Another group of fans say they traveled “four hours in the car” to attend. The group says they discovered American football and became Packers fans in 2019.

“We can’t believe we’re here,” says Fernando Rocha.

Sunday Night Football airs every Sunday starting at 7 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock.