All in for ‘futbol Americano’
In Mexico, the NFL is a big national passion
MEXICO CITY — Dressed in their classic silver and black uniforms, the Raiders players huddle before kickoff. After words of encouragement and a prayer, the teenagers finish with head butts, shoulder slaps and a battle cry: “Uno, dos, tres ... vamos!”
This is, after all, south of the U.S. border, where football has a century-old tradition and rivals soccer in popularity, and millions of kids like the “Raiders de Arboleda” play “futbol Americano” — American football — every weekend.
The NFL returns to Mexico after an 11year absence when the Texans face the Raiders in a regular season game next Monday in sold-out Azteca Stadium. For the “Mexican” Raiders and others across the country, football is part of Mexican sports tradition as much as soccer, boxing and lucha libre.
“Football gives you the chance to take your passion to the field, to hit people and not get fined,” said Raiders quarterback Gabriel Ayana, 16. “Maybe that’s why it’s so popular.”
The NFL has around 25 million fans in Mexico, the biggest number outside of the U.S., and its base “is still growing,” said Arturo Olive, director of the NFL office in Mexico. The league sponsors 6,500 teams in youth programs in 27 of 32 Mexican states, and estimates 2.5 million kids play flag football in elementary schools.
“Eight years ago, we played in only six states and had 120 teams,” Olive said. “The growth has been exponential.”
In a country steeped in soccer culture, and one that has hosted two FIFA World Cups, the love affair with football might be surprising. But Mexico has two popular university leagues with 36 teams as well as a sixteam professional league.
There are up to 10 NFL games on basic cable each week. The local soccer league has nine games each week, and not all of them are on TV.
Fans can watch the Thursday and Monday night games at the movie theatre. Soccer gets the big-screen treatment only for World Cup matches.
“I also used to play soccer,” Ayana said, “but preferred this sport.”
Football was introduced in the country in 1896 by Mexican students returning home from U.S. universities. They brought back “an oval shaped ball,” said Alejandro Morales, a local football historian and founder of Mexico’s football hall of fame. He said the first official match was played that year in the city of Jalapa in the Gulf state of Veracruz, where the students and their friends faced a team of American sailors from a U.S. ship anchored in the nearby port.
Soon after, several teams were created in Veracruz and eventually the sport spread to Mexico City and local colleges.
Azteca Stadium, built in 1966 and home to the popular soccer club America, underwent several renovations to meet NFL standards, including new locker rooms exclusive for the football teams, new ramps and improved communication systems. The size decreased from 100,000 to 84,000 to improve seating.
Most fans will be rooting for the Raiders, the fifth most-popular team in Mexico behind the Steelers, Cowboys, Patriots and 49ers, according to the NFL.