What was yesterday a pretty strong rumor has now become official. The Oakland Raiders and Houston Texans will travel south of the border to play a regular-season Monday night game in Mexico. The Raiders announced the Mexico City game on Friday.
The Raiders and Texans will play in Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca, celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, on Monday, November 21 (which means the game will be aired by ESPN). It will be the first Monday Night Football game ever played outside the United States.
“Expanding our International Series of regular-season games to Mexico marks an important step in our continued international growth,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. “We have a tremendous, passionate fan base in Mexico and we know the atmosphere on game day will be outstanding.”
Oakland will be the team sacrificing a home game for the excursion to Mexico, which isn’t a surprise given the team’s still questionable home city and stadium in 2016.
As noted yesterday, this will mark the first NFL game played in Mexico since the San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals met in Mexico City in the 2005 season. A total of 103,467 fans showed up for the game, and this year’s return should see similar hype and anticipation lead to a similar crowd. The matchup makes sense too, as the Houston Texans have been hoping to play a game in Mexico City at some point in time. Sending them south and bringing a popular team like the Raiders is a logical pairing.
“We are excited the Houston Texans can represent the NFL on an international stage for the first time on Monday Night Football this fall,” said Texans owner Bob McNair. “This is a great opportunity to grow our brand on a global scale and we are looking forward to playing in front of a passionate crowd at historic Azteca Stadium.”
While the NFL continues to make a push to expand its brand in Europe, it should probably focus more on the increasing awareness and interest in the sport in Mexico. It is somewhat shocking the NFL has not played a game in Mexico since 2005 but is planning multiple games a year in Europe. As noted by the Raiders’ press release, the Nielsen Company reports average viewership for regular-season NFL games among Hispanics has risen 28 percent in the past five years alone.
This is not to suggest the NFL should abandon its European adventures, but a more routine trip to Mexico would seem to make some sense as well.
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About Kevin McGuire
Contributor to Athlon Sports and The Comeback. Previously contributed to NBCSports.com. Host of the Locked On Nittany Lions Podcast. FWAA member and Philadelphia-area resident.