NFL returns to Mexico to fill economic void

The NFL will return to Mexico in November of this year, according to Commissioner Roger Goodell at a press conference prior to Super Bowl LVI. According to data from the firm Ernst & Young and the Chamber of Commerce (Canaco) of Mexico City, with the cancellation of this sporting event, as it happened in 2020 and 2021 due to the restrictions of the pandemic, the country leaves to enter between 67 million dollars in economic income and 250 million in media value in each edition.

“We are disappointed not to be able to be in Mexico last year, but we feel that from the point of view of safety due to health issues it was not the best and we decided so with our partners in Mexico. We are very happy to announce that we will return, we have already discussed it with our partners and public officials, so we will return to Aztec stadiumprobably on the usual date, November of the following season,” Goodell said.

The institution that made it possible for the NFL to land in the country in 2016 was the Tourist Promotion Council, which signed two contracts for three years each (the last renewal in 2018), although only three games have been held and in 2019 the Council disappeared by approval of the Senate. However, Arturo Olivé, director of the office of the NFL Mexico He assured that this was not a concern for the league and continues with its agreements with the Azteca Stadium and Televisa.

Additionally, the organization has the support of the Sports Institute of Mexico City, although not with public resources. “The economic part is solved internally, but in terms of logistics and events around the game, the support is still there from the federal government and that of the Mexico City and the collaboration is close”, said Olivé in September of last year. It should be noted that the NFL Mexico also has 25 sponsoring brands.

El Economista compiled the most recent data on the sporting events with the greatest economic benefit in the country, in this category the Formula 1 at the Hermanos Rodríguez Autodrome it is the queen, because in 2021 it generated 14,375 million pesos (705 million dollars). In comparison, the last time the NFL was in Mexico, it left an income of 838 million pesos (67 million dollars at the exchange rate in 2019); so an event more in line with the impact of the NFL is the Mexican Tennis Openwhich generates a local economic benefit of 750 million pesos in one week (37 million dollars).

According to a study carried out by the firm Ernst & Young (from 2019), the three regular season games that the NFL in the country they have left a total economic spill of 171 million dollars: 45 million in 2016, 59 million in 2017 and 67 million in 2019.

Instead, the game that was canceled in 2018 due to the conditions of the Azteca Stadium generated losses of 250 million in media value according to data from the consultancy cited by Nathan Poplawsky, president of the kanak.

To the last edition of the game in 2019, 22,500 tourists from other entities and 5,400 from abroad traveled. They stayed in the country for an average of five days, a longer stay than those who traveled for the Mexican Grand Prix (three days). The average spending of national visitors per night was 1,600 dollars and in the case of foreigners it was 342 dollars. Although the number of fans who traveled to see the NFL game in Mexico decreased compared to 2018, the spending of this sector has practically remained the same during the three editions, at 44 million.

In addition to the economic benefits, the visitors attracted to Mexico represent promotion to the country. Six out of ten foreign tourists who traveled to see the game responded that after their visit it was likely that they would return to Mexico and 90% indicated that they would recommend it as a destination.

This 2022 the NFL will also take three regular season games to London, in England, two at Tottenham Stadium and another at Wembley; and for the first time it will land in Germany with a match at the Allianz Arena in Munich. Germany will host four NFL games over the next four seasons, in 2022 and 2023 at FC Bayern’s stadium and the other two at Frankfurt Stadium.

Social networks, the way to land in Mexico

The Mexican fans found out about the return of the NFL to Mexico through a video in the official social networks, which have become an important means of connecting with the public and the league knows it. In 2017, the organization established the NFL Social Lab with the intent of reinvigorating its social channels with a team of designers, illustrators and writers tasked with creating and producing amazing, world-class content for an audience of more than 52 million people. followers on all their platforms.

In Latin America, for example, the Rams generated 218.9K engagement (interactions, reach, views) and the Bengals 114.7K on social media leading up to the Super Bowl, according to data shared by social media listening company Talkwaker.

Twitter shared with this newspaper that on said platform the conversation was mainly generated by men (73%), while 37% of this audience were people between 25 and 34 years old.

What type of format do fans interact with the most?

“One of the most interesting things that we find among the audience in Mexico that is passionate about the Super Bowl, is that they like to accompany their Tweets with multimedia content, since one of every three Tweets from these fans includes photos, images in general, GIFs or video”, responded via email Evelyn Cassio, Manager of Sports Content Alliances for Twitter in Spanish-speaking markets.

Why should sports properties be interested in building partnerships with social media platforms?

“At the level of club ownership or owner of a league, it is convenient for you to link with these platforms because it practically makes your club or your event be on a platform that has millions of users connected in your day to day and positions you and makes your event reach to all those people. It’s a win-win on both sides”, replied Gerardo Sordo, founder of BrandMe, a platform that allows brands to interact with content creators and create their own brand.

fernanda.vazquez@eleconomista.mxTo prepare for this event, Cassio mentioned that Twitter and the NFL have teamed up. On January 31, @TwitterSports asked fans for their best predictions for the big game in just six words and a few words. Some of the best Tweets were projected on SoFi’s LED ceiling. They also enabled the Themes feature to gather all the conversation around the event and created special emojis.