ESPN will televise the National Football League's first regular-season game in Mexico City in 11 years on MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL on Nov. 21 - Houston Texans vs. Oakland Raiders from Estadio Azteca. Multiple ESPN studio shows will be live from Mexico City on Nov. 20-21 as part of the company's extensive English and Spanish-language coverage, both in the United States and on ESPN networks in Spanish-speaking Latin America.
On-site plans include 10 hours of studio coverage and the first regular-season road show for ESPN's Sunday NFL Countdown, which debuted in 1985. Chris Berman will host Countdown (11 a.m. ET) from a set location at Chapultepec Park, site of the NFL Fan Fest, in Mexico City with analysts Trent Dilfer, Matt Hasselbeck, Randy Moss and Charles Woodson. On Monday, Berman and Suzy Kolber will co-host the two-hour
MONDAY NIGHT COUNTDOWN pregame show (6 p.m.) from Estadio Azteca leading into MNF. Two-time Super Bowl-winning Raiders quarterback Jim Plunkett will be a special guest on-set.
Other
ESPN shows originating from Mexico City include Sunday and Monday morning editions of Hannah Storm's
SPORTSCENTER Face to Face,
SPORTSCENTER on the Road with Sage Steele, and Monday's
NFL LIVE with Trey Wingo and analysts Herm Edwards and Darren Woodson.
"The NFL's return to Mexico on
MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL is a signature event of the season and the perfect opportunity for us to bring
SUNDAY NFL COUNTDOWN on the road for the first time," said Seth Markman,
ESPN senior coordinating producer, NFL studio shows. "We expect big, enthusiastic crowds and are looking forward to working with our
ESPN DEPORTES colleagues based in Mexico City."
ESPN's
MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL team of Sean McDonough (play-by-play) and Jon Gruden (analyst) will call the Texans-Raiders game (Nov. 21, 8:15 p.m.) with reporters Lisa Salters and
ESPN Deportes' John Sutcliffe, who lives in Mexico City.
ESPN Deportes
On
ESPN Deportes, multiple Sunday shows will feature reports from Chapultepec Park, as will Cronometro and Nacion
ESPN on Monday. The game will be preceded by a special NFL Esta Noche and a post-game
SPORTSCENTER produced from Estadio Azteca with live reports from outside the stadium, the NFL Fan Fest in Chapultepec Park and the studios.
NFL Esta Noche will be led by ESPN's Eduardo Varela and Pablo Viruega alongside former NFL standout Roberto Garza. The
NFL LIVE team includes former wide receiver Marco Martos, a Mexican who played in preseason games for the Panthers, Broncos, and Cowboys - the last two teams brought him to play at Azteca in 1997 and 1998 respectively. Former NFL players Ramiro Pruñeda, Mauricio Lopez "Tyson" and Gustavo Tella will also serve as analysts alongside hosts Kary Correa and Miroslava Montemayor.
The Spanish-language MNF telecast on
ESPN DEPORTES and in Latin America will feature Alvaro Martin (play-by-play) and Super Bowl-winning kicker Raul Allegre (analyst) with reporters Ciro Procuna and Sergio Dipp.
The game will also be broadcast on
ESPN DEPORTES Radio with play-by-play voice Kenneth Garay, analyst Sebastian Martinez Christensen and reporter Antonio Valle.
"We are excited to bring fans in the U.S. and throughout Latin America coverage of the return of the NFL to the Estadio Azteca," said Rodolfo Martinez, vice president of production,
ESPN DEPORTES and
ESPN International. "Mexico's growing NFL fan base has high expectations of this exciting game. We are putting all our resources towards offering the best coverage possible, including featuring iconic locations in Mexico City and leveraging our state-of-the-art studios opened last December."
ESPN International
ESPN International will carry the game across 61 countries/territories in Spanish-speaking Latin America, Brazil, the Caribbean, Canada and Australia/New Zealand/Pacific Islands.
On game day,
ESPN in Mexico and Central America will present more than 15 hours of NFL content, including a Toque Inicial produced outside the studios overlooking Estadio Azteca, two editions of
NFL LIVE and
SPORTSCENTER produced from the stadium and a pregame NFL Esta Noche. Additional content on local
ESPN2 and ESPN3 will be produced from ESPN's new studios in Mexico City and from Bristol, Conn. ESPN3 will also simulcast the game in English, giving Mexican fans the option of watching ESPN's U.S. telecast.
ESPN Digital and Marketing
In addition to ESPN's television coverage of this historic game,
ESPN Digital will feature multiple stories on ESPN.com and ESPNDeportes.com throughout the week, including features on Mexican football and the viability of a NFL franchise in Mexico City, plus game coverage from ESPN's NFL Nation team reporters Sara Barshop (Texans), Paul Gutierrez (Raiders) and Alden Gonzalez, who will travel to Mexico City.
ESPN Marketing will debut a new MNF advertising spot on Monday, Nov. 14, promoting the Texans-Raiders game and the planned studio coverage on
ESPN and
ESPN Deportes.
NFL in Mexico City
Texans-Raiders will be the first
MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL game in the 47-year history of the series to be played outside the United States.
ESPN televised the last NFL regular-season game in Mexico City 11 years ago as part of its previous
SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL package. The October 2, 2005 matchup (San Francisco 49ers vs. Arizona Cardinals) was played in front of 103,467 fans at Estadio Azteca, the largest crowd in NFL regular-season history at that time.
Image courtesy of
ESPN press
