NHL is the only major us sport league that hasn’t played a game in Mexico.

[joelef]

Has the MLB, NBA, NFL played in Australia? MLB, NFL in China? Any major North American league in South America? or Africa ?

MLB has played in Australia and china , nfl is playing in Brazil next year , mlb has played all over the world

 

[Bowski]

Neither does Australia and there they played there


So there shouldn’t be a team in Chicago then since that city is insanely violent. Oof your not consistent your a hypocrite

WTF are you on about?
Chicago, or any other US city/state is not criminally overrun to the point of the police not showing up until they have finished their massacre.

Go ahead tough guy, parade around Mexico with hockey gear in tow, and see how far you get.
Maybe the billionaire NHL owners will get a hefty "drug-free" peso bag to add to their portfolio. Then hockey will finally "flourish". Oof your.

 

[Dirty Dan]

WTF are you on about?
Chicago, or any other US city/state is not criminally overrun to the point of the police not showing up until they have finished their massacre.

Go ahead tough guy, parade around Mexico with hockey gear in tow, and see how far you get.
Maybe the billionaire NHL owners will get a hefty "drug-free" peso bag to add to their portfolio. Then hockey will finally "flourish". Oof your.

I mean you would be better off in Mexico than southside CHIRAQ.

 

[BruinsFan37]

If every other major North American sport considers it safe to travel there I think the NHL can handle it.

It's not like they're talking an expansion team in Mexico City, with the players living/playing/practicing there full time, they're talking one, maybe two games there like when they open up the season in Helsinki/Prague/wherever.

 

[John Mandalorian]

No more or less than the Southern NHL markets that ended up embracing NHL hockey and contributing to league growth.

You don't have to be able to go outside and play hockey to like watching hockey, buy merchandise, and spend money on hockey. When quality management has taken over across the US South, from North Carolina to the Florida teams to Tennessee and Texas, the game has thrived and people who didn't watch hockey before became NHL fans.. They have passed that fandom down to successive generations, new fans who also spend on the NHL. Those new markets also contribute to the global player base because those kids want to play.

It might be a tough sell, but that's the reason they might want to try to make inroads in Mexico. There's 21 million people (metro) in Mexico City (23 million in the urban area), tops in North America. There's widespread poverty, of course, but in a city that large there are still several million DF residents with serious money. Cultivating their fandom isn't the worst idea in the world.

This is more of an argument for focusing on more blind spots within the US and where American football is popular than for Mexico.

Games in the basketball arenas of SEC and ACC teams makes more sense than Mexico City. It’s not about selling out that one game either. It’s about more lucrative tv contract where the NHLs base exists.

 

[5 Minute Major]

I mean…..so what?

 

[Reddawg]

All right, stop.

 

[AlainVigneaultsGum]

Do you guys know that hockey is played on ice?

Source

 

[major frank burns]

It's still a very very long way off, but the effort is there. They just built a new rink in Cancun and I believe there are two rinks in Mexico City

I played against a team from Mexico in an adult tournament here in CA and we spent a lot of time asking them about the game there. A decent amount of them lived in the US but were born in Mexico but the majority did live in Mexico. Some even played very low pro leagues in the US.

There is also a lot of money in Mexico City and plenty of Europeans and Americans living there who would probably want to attend a game just cause they miss it

 

[93gilmour93]

I'm sure it will eventually happen and I would think the selling point for a game would be Auston Matthews as a half Mexican player and captain in the league. Not sure how good the ice would be though

 

[TS Quint]

WTF are you on about?
Chicago, or any other US city/state is not criminally overrun to the point of the police not showing up until they have finished their massacre.

Go ahead tough guy, parade around Mexico with hockey gear in tow, and see how far you get.
Maybe the billionaire NHL owners will get a hefty "drug-free" peso bag to add to their portfolio. Then hockey will finally "flourish". Oof your.

If someone in Mexico robs you of your hockey equipment what do they do with it? Lmao! I haven't heard of too many black markets for hockey equipment in Mexico.

 

[Maurice of Orange]

It could be the water shortage crisis around Mexico City that’s preventing the NHL from playing a game in Mexico City Distrito Federal proper.

Not sure how much water would be required to fill and freeze an ice rink but it could be seen as non essential.

Mexico City residents, faced with water crisis, resort to drastic measures

 

[NikolaTesla]

Its the only major sport that requires water in a solid state.

 

[SheldonJPlankton]

Matthews is a Mexican citizen. He could be the poster child to open up Mexico and captain an expansion Mexican franchise.

 

[Master P]

The NHL also hasn't played a game in Somalia.

 

[WildWingz68JAGR]

The NHL also hasn't played a game in Somalia.

Or Hawaii

 

[12ozPapa]

oh no

 

[rfournier103]

Never played a game in Mexico???

It is definitely time to right this grave injustice.

 

[Tim Calhoun]

It could be the water shortage crisis around Mexico City that’s preventing the NHL from playing a game in Mexico City Distrito Federal proper.

Not sure how much water would be required to fill and freeze an ice rink but it could be seen as non essential.

Mexico City residents, faced with water crisis, resort to drastic measures

There are already many ice rinks in Mexico City.

 

[HarrySPlinkett]

Conversely, hockey is the only major US sport most Mexicans have never heard of.

 

[daver]

"I was just saying this the other day"

- literally noone

 

[Bocephus86]

Mexico City is a world-class city, and I highly recommend visiting it for a vacation. It's one of my favorite North American cities to visit.

Not sure about a hockey game though.

Edit: I'd definitely move there if I wasn't so close to my aging parents.

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

It’s all fun n games until somebody drinks the water…..

 

[NickyFotiu]

A soccer ball is significantly cheaper than 1 hockey stick. Could probably start there

I know its surprising but I played against Mexico in a tournament years ago in Texas. Only reason I know they do have ice hockey there.

 

[WaitingForThatCab]

I'm sure it will eventually happen and I would think the selling point for a game would be Auston Matthews as a half Mexican player and captain in the league. Not sure how good the ice would be though

The ice would be fine. The bigger issue would be that the players would all have sore throats, runny noses, and red eyes after about 48 hours in Mexico DF's air pollution.