No NFL this year but wait.

The National Football League won’t be staging its annual game in Mexico City because of poor field conditions at the stadium. If the NFL does return to Mexico City in 2019, the NFL may not be the only football league that will showcase its product in Mexico. The Canadian Football League is looking to stage as many as two games in the country in 2019. The CFL has been doing due diligence as to the feasibility of holding games in Mexico. The league is looking to expand its footprint beyond the nine Canadian cities that have teams. The CFL is also kicking the tires in Halifax and hoping to place a team in the Atlantic Canada city so it would have a coast to coast presence.

Mexico does have one league which is a step above semi-pro football. The LFA will have eight teams on the field in 2019 and the LFA is interested in getting CFL games into Mexico. The LFA is heading into its fourth season and is a spring league. Mexico also has a national American football team that competes in international tournaments. American football is the sixth most popular sport in the Mexico. The National Football League has been attempting to grow the Mexico market for decades starting with selling games to Mexican TV in the 1970s. The Dallas Cowboys organization created a Spanish radio network for the Mexican market in the 1970s. The Houston Texans and Arizona Cardinals have had Mexican radio partners. The NFL is not going to be expanding any time soon nor is Mexico City considered a possible location for a permanent franchise. The league is trying to gain a worldwide footprint and it appears that the NFL is concentrating on building a sturdy London market and would like to expand efforts in Mexico. But the league has to overcome the impact of moving the 2018 game.