NFL Disses Mexico for England – Again!

Is that an NFL investing mistake?  110 Million Mexicans Say “Si Señor!”  

Once again the NFL is holding a regular season game outside of the USA.   This time it is the hapless San Francisco 49ers playing the rudderless Denver Broncos on October 31 in what looks to be a scary match-up between two teams going south almost as fast as the marketing “gurus” at NFL headquarters.  Is the NFL making a mistake in investing in England or should they look to Mexico instead?  Words: 855
To develop the investment strategy and to help grow the American brand of football beyond American borders, the NFL has turned to Brian Mawhinney, an expert in the other kind of football i.e. soccer.  Mawhinney, who served for seven years as chair of the of the soccer “Football League” in Britain, says that American football is “developing impressively in this country and I look forward to aiding that process.” 
Clearly, and for reasons unknown, the NFL has decided that England is the market they want and Mexico is NOT. Why? This makes no “cents”. 
Mexico held the highest regular season game attendance record in history for an NFL game –  when the Arizona Cardinals played the San Francisco 49ers in 2005 at Aztec Stadium in Mexico City – until the grand opening game at the new Dallas Cowboy stadium in 2009. That was in spite of the fact that the game was against the two worst teams in the league.  I know!  I was there!  It was not exactly a blockbuster match-up. Frankly, if that game had been held in the USA, the attendance would have been maybe 35,000 people, if they were lucky! 

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Now just imagine if that game had been a competitively relevant game or had been between two teams that were actually popular in Mexico; namely the Cowboys and Steelers. Had that been the case there probably would have been 150,000 people in attendance – and an additional 25,000,000 Mexican viewers on National TV!  Nevertheless, the game offered was the best of American modern culture and they, the Mexicans, were finally part of it!  I mean Mexicans were so pumped they were doing the wave 40 minutes before kick0ff.  It was amazing! 

The NFL in Mexico Makes ‘Cents’!

Now considering the above and with over 110 million people in Mexico, the size of the market just makes economic ‘cents’. Furthermore, when you add in the long history of Mexicans supporting the NFL since the days of the ’70s Steelers when they won the hearts of Mexican sports fans and subsequent hysteria for the Dallas Cowboys in the ’90s, it makes you wonder why the NFL would bypass Mexico for far-off England across an ocean and with non-friendly TV time zones? 
It’s weird. I mean Monterrey, is just 2 hours by car from Texas. Mexico has a well developed College Football League system that plays on the level of Division II football.  How does all that NOT make ‘cents’? I mean, it’s ripe for the NFL to get in there and develop. Does England have a built in farm system? No! What’s up people! Get with it! 

What’s Wrong With This NFL Mexico Picture?

My first educated guess is that it is some sort of weird odd cultural “I don’t understand Mexico” thing from the owners in the NFL.  Might it be that the leaders of the NFL better understand the Anglo Saxon culture of their ancestual homeland? I don’t think it’s racism so I am sure it has more to do with a cultural understanding in a language they recognize and know. 
Yeah, I know, it’s old school thinking but really, the market in the USA is changing fast and the Hispanic population is exploding. We must pay attention if we are going to compete right? 
Moreover, Mexico is fast becoming more like the USA with it’s younger growing population making noise in the world with most think tanks rating Mexico along with Brazil as one of the up and coming nation stars of the 21st Century. In fact, English is the fastest growing 2nd language in Mexico with what seems to be half the friggin’ population speaking some form of English.
We need to get to know Mexico before its too late. I mean, the young Mexicans are rolling in folks and they are North Americans, not Zimbaweeans! They are directly our neighbors – our brothers – while England, on the other hand, has a rapidly aging population and it’s not a natural for growth. It is bad demographically. It makes limited ‘cents’. 
So what is going on here? Why is the NFL messing up on its marketing and demography? Are they following the current xenophobic trend in the USA that has a weird incorrect stereotypical mis-conception of Mexico? Who’s advising them? 
For one of sports greatest marketing machine mindsets, the NFL’s decision to go backwards instead of forwards is truly odd.  Let’s see if the NFL game in London next week breaks attendence records or is just another high five back to mother England circa 1776!
2010 Copyright – Johnny Punish