The Kansas City Chiefs fell short of football immortality in February, coming one drive away from pulling off the NFL’s first three-peat since the 1960s. The overtime loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX was a sobering finale to a season in which Patrick Mahomes once again carried Kansas City deep into January. He was vintage. The defense was championship-worthy. But history proved just out of reach.

Now, the league is giving Mahomes a very different kind of challenge: one that spans holidays, hemispheres, and more than 21,000 air miles.

On Tuesday, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell unveiled one of the marquee features of the 2025 schedule: the Chiefs will open their season in São Paulo, Brazil, as part of the league’s first-ever regular-season game in South America. The matchup — a divisional clash with the Los Angeles Chargers — will take place at Corinthians Arena in Week 1, launching Kansas City’s campaign 5,000 miles from Arrowhead Stadium.

Now, ESPN’s Adam Schefter confirmed that the Chiefs will play the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day at AT&T Stadium — a ratings juggernaut of a matchup pitting Mahomes against Dak Prescott in what is annually one of the most-watched games of the season. As if that weren’t enough, Kansas City is also scheduled to host the Denver Broncos on Christmas Day, giving Mahomes the rare (and grueling) honor of headlining both major holiday slates. “Kansas City is heading to Dallas for a Thanksgiving game.” With this, it looks like the Chiefs will be getting a double holiday boost this season.

In theory, none of this is surprising. The Chiefs are the league’s flagship franchise. Mahomes is a global ambassador for the sport, and head coach Andy Reid remains one of the game’s most recognizable figures. Of course, the league wants to feature them. But the strategic implications of this schedule are worth unpacking.

For starters, the Brazil opener accelerates the team’s preseason timeline. Instead of ramping up for a Sunday game in Week 1, Kansas City will need to adjust its travel, practice cadence, and conditioning schedule to account for an international flight, a compressed week, and extreme humidity in São Paulo.

Second, the midseason holiday showcase in Dallas puts additional emphasis on a late-November stretch that includes four road games in five weeks, depending on how the schedule is layered. From a recovery standpoint, the Chiefs’ medical and performance staff will be tested. The Brazil trip alone requires a different altitude and hydration protocol, which is something teams like the Jaguars and Dolphins have previously emphasized in overseas matchups. The back-end travel miles can take their toll by December.

The 21K+ headache for the Chiefs

At least the Chiefs will be home for Christmas. The Broncos match-up is scheduled to be held at the Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas, so that’s some relief to Mahomes. He will have the fam cheering for him from the sidelines. Maybe we’ll even finally get to see baby Golden there. But the Dallas and Broncos match-up are the least of their worries this coming season. There are more causes for migraines.

As per Christian Booher’s X-post, the Chiefs are set to have the 10th-worst schedule this season in terms of their miles traveled. They will be travelling a whopping 21,695 miles this season for their games. Forget the jetlag and the time-zone shifts for a second. That’s a given, anyway. But with so much travelling to do, one has to wonder if it will affect their performance in any way. The Chiefs have a proven track record of being spectacular. And it will be all up to them to maintain that sky-high standard as they move through America, as well as Brazil.

The Chiefs have it a lot better than 9 other teams, honestly. If you look at the miles, the Chargers will have to move a massive 37,086 miles, leading the pack among the 32 franchises. The Bengals are likely to have it the easiest with only 8,753 miles. But that’s not really much of a salve for the Chiefs’ aching joints. They’re going to need to maintain their elite standard. Keep their eyes fixed on Super Bowl 2026. They’re going to need some quality luggage, and maybe a lot of comfortable neck pillows.