NFL’s looks to score a touchdown in the Mexican market

Global Business

Professional sports mean big money. That’s especially true for the National Football League.

With the NFL’s popularity growing in the United States, the league has been turning its attention to millions of fans in Mexico.

CCTV America’s Franc Contreras reports from Mexico City.

A football fiesta is Mexican style. Nearly 80,000 fans packed Mexico’s City’s giant Azteca stadium for the Monday night American football clash between the Oakland Raiders and the Houston Texans.

Outside of the United States, Mexico has one of the largest markets for enthusiastic NFL fans in the world. Their numbers translate into big sales.

Officials in the National Football League estimate there are some 22 million fans in Mexico. Multiply that by the number of jerseys and caps that can be sold and officials said the amount generated is somewhere in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Thousands traveled from the United States for this week’s game. But the majority inside the stadium was Mexican, some of whom were disappointed because the selling of black market NFL merchandise was banned.

It was the first time since 2005 the NFL held a regular season game south of the U.S. border. But bringing American football to Mexico was a safe bet. Each week, nine NFL games are televised to millions of Mexican fans. Tickets for this game sold out in one day.

Officials said the decision to bring the NFL to fans in Mexico is part of the league’s strategy for international expansion. And even if their team loses, the number of Mexican fans watching and attending NFL games is expected to grow.