The Los Angeles Chargers Are About to Make Travel History in 2025
The Los Angeles Chargers are gearing up for a historic 2025 season—not just on the field, but in the skies. According to a comprehensive analysis by Bookies.com, the Chargers will travel a record-breaking 37,086 miles this NFL season, the most in league history. That staggering number includes a Week One round-trip to Brazil, six games in the Eastern Time Zone, and a total of 42 time zone crossings—all of which place the Chargers atop the NFL’s travel chart. To put that into perspective, only three MLB teams will travel farther in 2025, and Major League Baseball plays 10 times as many regular-season games.
The Chargers’ grueling travel itinerary starts immediately with a long-haul flight to São Paulo, Brazil, for a Week One showdown against the Kansas City Chiefs. The international opener, widely reported and now confirmed, is part of the NFL’s growing effort to globalize the game. It will mark the Chargers’ first regular-season appearance outside of North America. The official schedule drops Wednesday night, but many of the marquee international matchups—including six of seven total games—were announced ahead of time. The Chargers-Chiefs game will round out that list.
West Coast teams are naturally disadvantaged by geography when it comes to NFL travel, and the Chargers are no exception. Yet their 2025 schedule goes above and beyond even those typical challenges. They’ll rack up nearly 9,000 more miles than the San Francisco 49ers and surpass the Rams and Seahawks, who round out the top three. Interestingly, the Seahawks and 49ers will both exceed the 24,901-mile mark—the distance around the Earth’s equator—without ever leaving the continental U.S. On the flip side, the Cincinnati Bengals will enjoy a far more comfortable journey in 2025. Their schedule totals just 8,753 miles across eight time zones, with their longest road trip being a relatively tame visit to Denver. That’s less than one-quarter of what the Chargers will travel.
This travel-heavy season comes on the heels of a resurgent 2024 campaign for the Chargers. Under new head coach Jim Harbaugh, the Bolts bounced back from a disappointing 5–12 finish in 2023 to win 11 games and return to the playoffs. Harbaugh’s impact was immediate and profound, reshaping the team’s identity and positioning Los Angeles as a legitimate contender in the AFC West. However, with the Chiefs still looming large and now drawing the Chargers to Brazil in Week One, LA’s margin for error may be razor-thin. The biggest question surrounding the Chargers’ brutal travel slate is simple: How much will it affect them?
While many NFL players are used to cross-country flights and tight turnarounds, 37,000+ miles is uncharted territory. Fatigue, sleep disruption, and time zone adjustment could take a toll, especially later in the season. That said, travel is only one factor in the equation, and Los Angeles has far more pressing concerns. Despite their upward trajectory, the Chargers made minimal noise in free agency, which could come back to haunt them in a stacked AFC. Sure, they drafted well and retained core pieces, but fan concerns are valid: Can a team with limited offseason additions handle a grueling schedule and still compete with the NFL's elite? We’re about to find out.
