The Chargers will travel more air miles than any other NFL team during the 18-week 2025 regular season, an estimated 37,086, starting with a season-opening “home” game against the AFC West rival Kansas City Chiefs on Sept. 5, after a 12-hour, 6,155-mile flight to Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Back in February, the league selected the Chargers to be the host team for the second game ever played in Brazil’s Corinthians Arena. But the league didn’t formally reveal the Chargers’ opponent until Wednesday, when it announced the entire schedule for each of the 32 teams.
The Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Green Bay Packers last season in the first NFL game played in Brazil.
The Chargers celebrated their schedule release by posting an animated Minecraft-style video on social media featuring each of their opponents. It’s become something of a tradition for the Chargers’ social media team to come up with something a little more clever than the previous season.
By agreeing to play Kansas City in Brazil, the Chargers gave up a chance to host the Chiefs at SoFi Stadium. The Chargers last played outside of the United States when they lost to the Chiefs, 24-17, at Estadio Azteca, Mexico City’s mammoth soccer stadium, on Nov. 18, 2019.
The Chargers also played regular-season games in London in 2008 and ’18, after playing the first NFL game outside of North America, when they faced the then-St. Louis Cardinals in an exhibition game in Tokyo in 1976. They also played exhibitions in Berlin, Sydney and Tokyo between 1994 and ’99.
The Chargers-Chiefs game will be streamed on YouTube for free, a first for the NFL, which continues to expand its footprint beyond traditional broadcast networks. The Chiefs were a natural selection to oppose the Chargers, having advanced to three straight Super Bowls, winning two.
What’s more, Kansas City is one of the NFL’s most popular teams, featuring standouts such as quarterback Patrick Mahomes, tight end Travis Kelce and defensive tackle Chris Jones. The Chiefs have a seven-game winning streak against quarterback Justin Herbert and the Chargers, dating to the 2021 season.
The Chargers will play five games in primetime this season. Only the Chiefs, with seven, and the Dallas Cowboys, with six, will play more night games. After facing the Chiefs in Brazil, the Chargers will play their two other division rivals, the Las Vegas Raiders and the Denver Broncos, in the season’s first three weeks.
Other highlights include SoFi Stadium visits by the Super Bowl champion Eagles, the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Washington Commanders and the Minnesota Vikings, games that will undoubtedly attract a huge number of transplants to Southern California and the usual bandwagon-jumping fans.
The Chargers must wait until Week 17 to get a chance to gain a payback for the Houston Texans’ 32-12 rout in an AFC wild-card game in January. It will also be a rematch of two standout quarterbacks in Herbert and the Texans’ C.J. Stroud, a Rancho Cucamonga native who directed Houston’s playoff victory.
Road games outside of the division feature a return to the site of the Chargers’ biggest playoff flop, a 31-30 come-from-ahead loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2023 that included a blown 27-0 second-quarter lead. The rebuilding Jaguars, who missed the playoffs the past two seasons, host the Chargers in Week 11.
Chargers 2025 schedule
Week 1: vs. Kansas City Chiefs, Sao Paulo, Brazil, 5 p.m., Sept. 5 (Fri.), YouTube
Week 2: at Las Vegas Raiders, 7 p.m., Sept. 15 (Mon.), ESPN
Week 3: vs. Denver Broncos, 1:05 p.m., Sept. 21, CBS
Week 4: at New York Giants, 10 a.m., Sept. 28, CBS
Week 5: vs. Washington Commanders, 1:25 p.m., Oct. 5, FOX
Week 6: at Miami Dolphins, 10 a.m., Oct. 12, CBS
Week 7: vs. Indianapolis Colts, 1:05 p.m., Oct. 19, CBS
Week 8: vs. Minnesota Vikings, 5:15 p.m. Oct. 23, (Thurs.), Amazon Prime Video
Week 9: at Tennessee Titans, 10 a.m., Nov. 2, CBS
Week 10: vs. Pittsburgh Steelers, 5:20 p.m., Nov. 9, NBC
Week 11: at Jacksonville Jaguars, 10 a.m., Nov. 16, CBS
Week 12: Bye
Week 13: vs. Las Vegas Raiders, 1:25 p.m., Nov. 30, CBS
Week 14: vs. Philadelphia Eagles, 5:15 p.m., Dec. 8, (Mon.), ESPN/ABC
Week 15: at Kansas City Chiefs, 10 a.m., Dec. 14, CBS
Week 16: at Dallas Cowboys, 10 a.m., Dec. 21, FOX
Week 17: vs. Houston Texans, time and date TBD, TV TBD
Week 18: at Denver Broncos, time and date TBD, TV TBD
