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 Editorials | At Issue | October 2005 
Mexicans on NFL in Mexico City: So What?
 Kirk Mitchell - Denver Post
| | The first game to be played outside the U.S. drew a lukewarm reception from some, who were watching soccer. |
As the Arizona Cardinals and the San Francisco 49ers made history by playing the first NFL regular-season game outside the United States, the men packing Mi Oficina sports bar sat and attentively watched a big-screen TV.
But the sports fans in the Federal Boulevard bar only a block from Invesco Field at Mile High weren't watching football - they were watching futbol, or soccer.
International soccer power Brazil was playing Mexico.
None of the three TVs in the sports bar were tuned to the NFL game in Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. It didn't matter that Arizona Cardinals' guard Rolando Cantu, the only native Mexican in the NFL, was playing before a sellout crowd approaching 100,000.
"Soccer is bigger," La Oficina bar manager Miguel Navarro said minutes after the 49ers and Cardinals began playing. "There's not too much interest in football Americano."
Apparently the Mi Oficina customers hadn't gotten the word that, according to the NFL's website, more Hispanics in the U.S. like football than soccer. The same source says that the NFL has a fan base of 20 million in Mexico, the largest outside the U.S.
The football game was on at another bar catering to Mexicans off Santa Fe Drive, but the place was nearly deserted.
"I think it is terrific," said Mary Castaneda, who was there watching the game played in Mexico. "Mexican people love football. They do."
At Ron and Dan's Keg Lounge on 38th Avenue, customers watched the game - not because it was making history - but because watching an NFL football game on Sunday night is what they do.
"Personally, I think it's good," said Chappy Lucero, 45, of the game being played in Mexico City.
The game was televised in 218 countries by 18 broadcasters, according to the NFL.
In the future, other games could be played outside the U.S. |
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