The Ministry of Tourism of Mexico, the Mexico Tourism Board and NFL Mexico announced the date for the regular season game to be played in Mexico, scheduled for Sunday, November 19, 2017. The kickoff will start at 3:25 pm (Central Mexico Time) between the hosting Oakland Raiders and the New England Patriots at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, in accordance to the 2017 regular season league schedule that was released.

The game in Mexico is the fifth international game confirmed for 2017 (the other four games were previously announced and will take place in London), attesting to NFL’s commitment to grow the sport beyond the United States.

The Raiders will play in the country for the second consecutive season after defeating the Houston Texans 27-20 on November 21, 2016, which was the first Monday Night Football played in Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, in front of an audience of 76,473. For the Patriots, who are the reigning champions, this will be their first regular season game in Mexico.

According to a study by the Sport Industry Group of EY, last November’s game and activities generated an economic impact of $45 million. Between the announcement of the game in February and the day of the match, there were close to 20,000 mentions of the Mexico game in traditional and social media in the United States with an estimated ad value of almost $250,000, according to studies completed by Repucom and Prime Research.

Additionally, with 205,000 participants at the NFL Fan Fest in The Chapultepec Forest and more than 55,000 other fans participating in other activities during the week of the game, fan participation before the 2016 game played a key role in a successful kickoff. Approximately 10,000 visitors from the United States followed their teams to Mexico for the game. This year, the country seeks to surpass all of last year’s figures.

As part of the activities that will take place leading up to the New England and Oakland game, theNFL Fan Fest will take place again this year with support from the Mexico City government, with significantly  more fans expected to participate in comparison to last year. There will also be a Mexico City – NFL Flag Football Tournament and NFL Play 60 clinics supported by the National Commission for Physical Culture and Sport (CONADE by its Spanish acronym).

This year, the “Stop Reforma” activity at the Paseo de la Reforma the morning of Sunday, November 19 and the Fan Fiesta at Estadio Azteca during the hours leading up to the game will also take place. In addition to these activities, discounts will be offered at museums and other tourist attractions throughout Mexico City as well as restaurant and retail promotions under an incentive program titled “Keys to Mexico City.”

The Ministry of Tourism of Mexico and the Mexico Tourism Board will donate 1,000 tickets to the game to teachers and students that practice American Football throughout the country.

NFL Mexico gives special thanks to the Ministry of Tourism of Mexico, the Mexico Tourism Board and the Federal Government for the support in making this event possible. Special thanks also go to Banorte, which will continue as the presenting partner of the game, and Estadio Azteca, Televisa, Visa and FedEx, who join as strategic partners to the League office in Mexico.

Thank you for making this dream a reality one more time for all the football fans in Mexico. We invite all fans interested in more information about tickets to the game, which go on sale this summer, to register at www.nfl.com/mexico.