The Denver Broncos will play an international game in Mexico. Not this season. Maybe not next season, but within the next seven years.
The NFL requires every team to play at least one international game every eight years. The Broncos just played in England last season, so their next international game might not be imminent, but it will be scheduled before 2030.
So, why Mexico?
The NFL announced in 2021 that Mexico has been designated as Denver’s “International Home Market Area.” As part of that announcement, the NFL said “the league will use its best efforts to ensure clubs play their international games in their international HMAs, where possible.”
The Broncos have said numerous times that they would like to play in Mexico, and the team has taken steps to grow their already sizeable following south of the border.
Denver donated 100 flag football kits to public and private schools in Mexico last fall. Last March, the team sent former senior V.P. of strategy Brittany Bowlen, Hall of Famer Steve Atwater and then-Bronco player Bradley Chubb on a multi-day tour in Mexico to promote the club’s IHMA affiliation.
“Outside of the Denver Metro area, the largest population of Broncos fans resides in Mexico City,” the Broncos said in a press release last spring.
Last week, the team announced they will have another event in Mexico this spring around the 2023 NFL draft. Denver will have Hall of Famer Terrell Davis and ex-quarterback Jake Plummer represent the team in Mexico from April 29-30.
Speaking with media at the NFL owners’ meetings in Arizona last month, Broncos president Damani Leech said the team will announce one of their draft picks in Mexico (presumably Plummer and/or Davis will make the announcement).
This all points toward the team continuing to grow its brand in Mexico ahead of an eventual international game played in Mexico City. The NFL will not play any games in Mexico this season because Estadio Azteca is undergoing renovations.
Once those renovations are complete, the NFL will return to Mexico — and the Broncos will be part of the league’s international schedule at some point within the next seven years.
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