The Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the New Orleans Saints in the NFL’s first-ever game in France that went off surprisingly well despite the protests and civil unrest all week in Paris leading up to the matchup.
The NFL was questioned throughout the week after seeing violence, looting, vandalization and more occurring in Paris over widespread anger regarding public living costs, deteriorating public services and more. Even President Donald Trump admitted he was “worried about it,” talking about the Steelers-Saints matchup.
But the league, despite beloved soccer team Paris Saint-Germaine postponing its Saturday match to Monday due to the unrest, didn’t blink.
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Neither did its fans.
OutKick caught up with several fans who braved the potential of being caught in the middle of the protests in Paris, and though there were some inconveniences, it didn’t go any further than that for these football goers.
“If I’m being honest, I have not seen enough. I’ve seen some graffiti everywhere, but I haven’t seen anything myself,” one fan said outside Stade de France.
Another added: “For the most part, it hasn’t been a problem. There’s been a few delays and disturbances, but it hasn’t been that big of a problem.”
One fan that caught up with OutKick came all the way from Mexico, where protests due to violent crime, working conditions, and housing costs are nothing new for him.
“[It] don’t matter. Mexico is almost the same,” he said when asked about France’s widespread protests. “We have a bad government. I don’t care. I don’t care [about] the problems in France. It’s OK for me. I came for the game.”
Fair enough.
There were, of course, heightened security measures, as the NFL worked closely with Parisian police, French national authorities and the U.S. State Department to ensure the safety of all attending the game and the surrounding area. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, Saints owner Gayle Benson and Steelers owner Art Rooney II all met with President Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée Palace to go over safety plans as well before the game.
As for fans experiencing one of the most iconic cities around the globe, it wasn’t ideal to say the least.
“There are some stores I want to go to that are boarded up a little bit, or have cracks in their glass,” one fan explained. “But other than that, the city seems great. It’s not as bad as I was expecting.
“There’s a lot of really beautiful things that they’re hurting for no reason. I understand they want to speak their voice, but they’re doing things that shouldn’t be done – vandalizing monuments and stuff. It’s not worth it.”
Another fan believed that protesters have been going too far when it involves the destruction of property and more violent acts.
“Have they gone too far, the protestors? When they start tearing stuff up, yes sir. When they start burning vehicles and stuff, yeah, that’s too far.”
Goodell said the game would go off without a hitch, Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed as much to OutKick, and that was the case in the end.
There are five international games still left on the 2026 NFL schedule, with the Cincinnati Bengals and Atlanta Falcons playing in Madrid, Spain in Week 9.
The New England Patriots and Detroit Lions will play in Munich, Germany in Week 10, while the Minnesota Vikings and San Francisco 49ers travel to Mexico City, Mexico the following week.
