Sports without borders?
Mexico and the Mexico market have been intriguing sports leagues for more than two decades now. Major League Baseball played some regular season games in Monterey in the late 1990s causing then Colorado Rockies owner Jerry McMorris to enthusiastically push for a franchise in the city that is not far from the Texas-Mexico border. The Canadian Football League looked at Monterey as a possible place to put a team in 1992. The National Football League plays an annual game in Mexico City. The National Basketball Association also plays regular season contests in Mexico City. Mexico was part of the successful United 2026 bid for the 2026 World Cup and will host a number of matches along with Canada and the United States. Mexico City is mentioned as a possible home for a Major League Baseball expansion team and the NBA is trying to figure out if Mexico City could support a team.
The Canadian Football League Commissioner Randy Ambroise is also intrigued by Mexico. The CFL has nine teams and has been stumbling around for years trying to figure out how to get bigger. Between 1993 and 1995, the league had teams in the United States but only the Baltimore franchise was able to gain some fan support. Teams in Birmingham, Las Vegas, Memphis, Sacramento, San Antonio and Shreveport were failures. Baltimore folded after Art Modell took his Cleveland Browns franchise to Baltimore in late 1995. In 1999, Vince McMahon thought about buying the CFL and using it as a building block in the startup XFL. Ultimately, McMahon abandoned the notion. The NFL has thrown money into the CFL. Ambroise wants to grow the CFL and before the CFL heads to Mexico City and/or Monterey there is substantial work that needs to be done propping up some franchises and perhaps expand to Halifax. But for sports leagues, Mexico has too many pesos to ignore.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and his owners like Mexico.
