The NFL is planning on staging an annual regular-season game in Mexico after confirming its return to the country ahead of Super Bowl 50 last week. NFL Mexico Dir Arturo Olivé told SBD Global that he has already held talks with league officials about making the game an annual event. "We are focusing on this year's game but we have spoken about having regularly programmed games," he said. "Maybe once a year. But at the end of the day this first one is the point of focus for us because if it turns out well, which we expect, it will open more opportunities in this stadium (Estadio Azteca) as well as maybe others in Mexico." The NFL will return to Mexico City's Estadio Azteca this fall, 11 years after hosting its first regular-season game outside the U.S. in the same venue. The Oakland Raiders and Houston Texans will face each other in a Monday Night Football matchup on Nov. 21.
THE RIGHT TIMING: Olivé said the foundation to bring the NFL back to Mexico was laid on the day he started a little over seven years ago. "We needed to have the right condition," he said. "We needed to have the right platform to take advantage of an opportunity like this." The league estimates its Mexican fan base to be 22 million, which would make it the largest fan base outside the U.S. Olivé said that when he took office the fan base was less than half of what it is today. The NFL has also been able to increase its number of sponsorships in the country from a single-digit figure to more than 20 over the course of Olivé's tenure. The NFL's four Mexican broadcast partners show nine games per week. Its free-to-air TV partner Televisa is also the owner of the iconic stadium, which hosted two FIFA World Cup finals. When the San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals made the trip south of the border in '05, they played in front of 103,467 spectators. This year's game will see an attendance figure in the 80,000-90,000 range as the 50-year-old stadium is undergoing renovations. "Renovations will include bigger locker rooms to accommodate [American] football players and communication upgrades," Olivé said.
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| Arturo Olive |
THE RIGHT PRICE: Due to the yet unknown capacity figure, Olivé was unable to provide specific details about ticket prices. "That’s an ongoing process," he said. "The plans are to come out on sale probably in the month of July. By then we expect to have all the necessary information in terms of capacity and benchmarking against other important events in Mexico, for example Formula 1." Similar to its London games, the league intends to host a number of events outside the stadium. Olivé said that he is in contact with city officials about organizing events around the stadium and in the heart of Mexico City. The game will also feature LED sideline advertising. The league approved this form of advertisement at Wembley stadium as an homage to the venue's soccer heritage and an added bonus for its partners. "We are part of the International Series games and we will have the same ability as the London games have now," Olivé confirmed. Football is the second most popular team sport in the country behind soccer, he added. The Raiders and Texans have established fan bases in the country. The teams rank eighth and 12th, respectively, in a team affinity analysis from Jan. '15.
