Report: NFL plans to host five regular-season games in Mexico

The NFL’s international series of games will not be restricted to England. According to Spanish news site AS.com, the NFL will host five regular-season games in Mexico, one per season, starting in either 2017 or 2018.

“We’re taking steps in the right direction so that eventually, this platform [of sponsors] which we have reconstructed will enable us to talk directly to the NFL in New York about the possibility of staging games in Mexico,” NFL Mexico director Arturo Olivé said.

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Mexico appears financially stable to host games now, and organizational costs to host NFL games reportedly is set at $15 million. The growth of sponsorship deals over the past few years in Mexico has allowed the team to host another regular-season game.

The NFL’s one and only regular-season game in Mexico was held in 2005, a 31-14 Arizona Cardinals victory over the San Francisco 49ers (made famous by Ed Hochuli’s first penalty call being brilliantly made en español). NFL Mexico started losing sponsorships and was down to three (with two soon expiring) in 2008, but that number has risen to 20 sponsors that endorse the league today.

Although the venue (or venues) for these games is unknown, the five-game platform appears set — up, even, from the originally proposed slate of three games.

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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Eric_Edholm