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

[Nerowoy nora tolad]

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

Idk about NFL/NBA, but the NHL plays an exhibition every few years in australia and the potential for hockey to grow there is surprisingly good. I was downright shocked to find that most 18-40 aussies I talked to knew the sport well enough to have a conversation about it beyond "oh hockey, ice, thats cool".

Based on what I saw, if Australia were just off the california coast instead of 12 time zones away it would actually make more sense as an expansion target than the inevitable Phoenix 2.0 or Atlanta 3.0 disasters we can all see coming in another 10 years.

By comparison when I brought up hockey with japanese or chinese, the response was usually more like "oh yeah, hockey, whatever".

I’m curious why anyone who doesn’t have a financial stake in the league is so concerned about its expansion into unorthodox markets.

The world is a better place when there are more leagues and more owners at local levels. Whenever people harken back to the good ol days, this is at the root of that world they’re thinking of. I really could not care less about the NHL not creating and owning market share for ice hockey in Zimbabwe.

If there ever is a professional hockey league in Mexico, I hope it somehow gets built from the ground up in that country.

Because the hard work put in by volunteers at all levels of the sport isnt done for the quarterly financial health of the NHL, its done for the love of the sport.

Part of giving back to the sport is expanding the ability of people around the world to discover and play the game, and showcasing top-level talent to people who would otherwise never see it is a big part of that.

 

[Salsero1]

Are hockey fans the only sports fans insecure enough to get upset at the idea of an exhibition game in MC?

 

[mediator]

Why is playing in Mexico an absolute necessity?

Large potential market, geographical proximity, growing the sport?

They could never put an ice rink in Mexico and I would be ok with that. Hot and tropical climates are not the NHL’s vibe.

Like Florida and California?

 

[Suntouchable13]

Large potential market, geographical proximity, growing the sport?


Like Florida and California?

Come off it, how much can the sport grow? They went to a bunch of Olympics already and how much did that really grow the game? Sure, Mexicans will love the game after 1 game. Give me a break.

 

[BigEezyE22]

Does Draft Kings have an operation in Mexico?

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

Come off it, how much can the sport grow? They went to a bunch of Olympics already and how much did that really grow the game? Sure, Mexicans will love the game after 1 game. Give me a break.

Seriously...what's next? A team from Miami winning the cup? Sun belt markets having some of the best attendance in the league? Crazy talk.

 

[PenguinSuitedUp]

Large potential market, geographical proximity, growing the sport?


Like Florida and California?

Yeah, because Mexico is a comparable market to US markets.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

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

Source?

 

[Master P]

Source?

I know a guy who knows a guy.

 

[Yorkshire Leaf]

To be honest most of the rest of the world would prefer if North America kept it’s parochial little sports (throw & catch ball/throw and hit ball/throw and catch ball with hoopy things) to themselves.

 

[MoneyManny]

Hockey is not the kind of ice they like in Mexico.

 

[wetcoast]

Topical:

NHL Simply Not Going To Bother Reaching Out To Hispanics

NEW YORK—Though other professional sports leagues have made concerted efforts to attract new fans in the emerging demographic, the NHL is just not even going to try to reach out to Hispanics, league officials said Monday. "Truthfully, at this point it’s not even worth it; I have enough on my...

theonion.com

I do think a Mexico City exhibition game is inevitable, though. Seems like it'd be tailor made for a neutral Kings/Stars game to me.

Really you are going to trust the onion on this?........

 

[No Fun Shogun]

Really you are going to trust the onion on this?........

… what? I was posting a semi-topical joke.

 

[wetcoast]

… what? I was posting a semi-topical joke.

I bet a good 25% of people didn't know this.

 

[Cas]

Yeah, because Mexico is a comparable market to US markets.

With over 125 million people and an economy worth more than $2 trillion, it's probably worth attempting to make at least some inroads to pick up even just a tiny, tiny share of that market.

 

[PenguinSuitedUp]

With over 125 million people and an economy worth more than $2 trillion, it's probably worth attempting to make at least some inroads to pick up even just a tiny, tiny share of that market.

We don’t need to expand into every market, particularly ones where we will be needing to invest a ton of money just to get a small sliver. What we need to be doing is providing the largest hockey market in the world a second team.

 

[EXTRAS]

If hockey equipment could ever be made cheaply, a ton of roads down there would be great for kids road hockey. They should be heavily promoting ball hockey down there not ice hockey. Use it as a gateway sport.

 

[hotcabbagesoup]

NO to MEXICO

This coming from someone from San Jose.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

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

Bushleague

 

[Salsero1]

I don't understand what playing an exhibition game in Mexico hurts, besides some really insecure fans. It has nothing to do with a team based in Toronto 2 (over TMLs/Buffalos dead body) or QC (lol) or anything.

 

[HockeyMomx2]

In 2025 nascar , nba , mlb and possibly the nfl will all play regular season games in mexico next year. Considering the future demographics trends of America and the biggest market for North American sports outside of an and a why hasn’t the nhl played at least an exhibition down there? Why is the nhl so behind on this type of stuff?

Is there even a hockey rink in Mexico?

 

[kingsholygrail]

Why hasn't there been an NHL game in New Dehli? 33 million reasons to play a game there.

 

[Kevinsane]

There’s a place in Chile that’s had a 59 year drought. That seems like it’d be the perfect locale for a Maple Leafs exhibition game.

 

[Cas]

Is there even a hockey rink in Mexico?

Mexico's men's national team is ranked #42 by the IIHF, out of 58. Their women's national team is ranked #25, two spots ahead of Latvia (which I think most people would consider a "real" hockey country, if a small one). I'm going to assume there's more than one hockey rink in Mexico.

Seems like there's a whole lot of rather ignorant dismissal of Mexico as having any relevance whatsoever to ice hockey. Whether the NHL should schedule any games (whether regular season, pre-season, exhibition, whatever) in Mexico or not, maybe people should at least rationally consider the idea, even if ultimately to reject it, rather than simply crack ignorant and moronic jokes about it.

 

[Jumptheshark]

I am getting deja vu with this thread. WE get it every few years. MLB, NBA and the NFL are very popular in Mexico at the grass roots. NHL? Not so much. With threads like this, it cause me to think that we need to think about having games in places like Madagascar, The congo and Ghana