The NFL has not decided on returning to Mexico

It is still quite premature to talk about the return of the NFL to play regular-season matches in Mexico, expressed a spokesperson of the football league in an interview with EL UNIVERSAL.

According to a report from Mexico, the NFL will return to our country with five games starting 2017 or 2018. However, from its main offices in New York the league provided a more cautious position.

"We are pleased with the growth in demand from fans and the increase in support by our partners in recent years. With this in mind, we are still reviewing the opportunity to play matches in Mexico," said Michael Signora, vice president of communications for the NFL, in an email to EL UNIVERSAL.

"We have visited several stadiums in recent months, and we are analyzing what is needed to take the games back to Mexico. It is premature to comment specifically on when this will happen, or how many games can be played," the spokesperson added.

Arturo Olivé, director of the NFL in Mexico, spoke of the progress done to make this possible.

"We are taking the steps in the right direction for that. Eventually, those sponsorships that we have rebuilt will lead us to be able to speak with the NFL in New York about the possibility of having games in Mexico," said Olivé to the AS Mexico portal.

"When they decide (to bring the games back to Mexico) there are going to be five matches, not one, not three. The task now is to have 10 teams aligned in time for the announcement," added Olivé.

On 2 October 2005, the Arizona Cardinals defeated the San Francisco 49ers by 31-14 in the Azteca stadium, in the first game of the regular-season played outside the United States. That game imposed a record attendance for the league for a game of regular season, with 103,467 fans.

Since then, the NFL has not returned to Mexico.

The NFL played his first game on Mexican soil on August 1978, when the New Orleans Saints beat the Philadelphia Eagles by 14-7 in an exhibition game.

In 1994, a preseason game between the Dallas Cowboys and the extinct Houston Oilers in the Azteca stadium attracted 112,376 fans, a standing record for the NFL.