Report: Mexico to host five NFL regular season games
The National Football League will play five regular season games, one per season, in Mexico starting in 2017 or 2018, according to a report from AS.com.
The NFL has yet to confirm the report.
The NFL recently said it was looking to play more international games and looking at potential sites in Germany, Mexico and Brazil.
“We’re taking steps in the right direction so that eventually, this platform (of sponsors) which we have reconstructed will enable us to talk directly to the NFL in New York about the possibility of staging games in Mexico,” NFL Mexico Director Arturo Olivé said.
“It will be for five games, not three as originally proposed,” Olivé said.
According to the report, it will cost $15 million to stage NFL games in the country, with Olivé saying that it was improbable that Mexico City’s Azteca stadium or Olympic Stadium would be used to stage NFL games. Officials in Mexico have reportedly secured the necessary sponsorship money to cover the $15 million in organizational costs.
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The first regular season game ever to be held outside of the United States was played in 2005 at Azteca Stadium. The Arizona Cardinals beat the San Francisco 49ers 31–14 in front of over 103,000 spectators.
This season, there will be three international games, all in London: the Miami Dolphins take on the New York Jets on Oct. 4, the Buffalo Bills play the Jacksonville Jaguars on Oct. 25 and the Detroit Lions face Kansas City Chiefs on Nov. 1.
Last month, the NFL and English Premier League squad Tottenham Hotspur agreed to a 10-year partnership allowing the NFL to play a minimum of two games each year at the team’s new stadium.
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