An expanded league?
It is a Covid-19 Cinco de Mayo. It’s a party day because a Mexican beer company years ago ran a festive Cinco de Mayo United States TV advertising campaign and Americans embraced the ads. Cinco de Mayo became a hit at bars and taverns even though most revelers had no real knowledge of why it is a minor holiday in Mexico. On May 5th, 1862, an undermanned Mexican army defeated the French at the Battle of Puebla. It was the last time a European nation attacked a North American country. May 5th is a good time to take a look at what could happen in the business of exporting United States sports product into Mexico after COVID-19 is contained. Soccer’s Mexican Liga MX may want to form some sort of an alliance with the United States/Canadian Major League Soccer. The owner of the Atlas Liga MX franchise, Alejandro Irarragorri, points out that “a high percentage of Mexican football’s income comes from the USA. Their league has been growing in an ordered, slow, but consistent way in all senses: commercially, infrastructure, financial structure, diffusion and on the field.” MLS Commissioner Don Garber has in the past brought up the notion of merging with the Mexican league.
Major League Baseball stages regular season games in the country. There were suggestions more than two decades ago that Monterrey which is not far from the Texas border had the corporate market that Major League Baseball would want. The National Football League is scheduled to play a game in Mexico City this fall. The NBA has staged regular season games in Mexico City. Mexico, Canada and the US have combined to host soccer’s 2026 World Cup. There are pesos on the table which means American based sports organizations will be doing business in Mexico after the COVID 19 pandemic ends.
