NFL To Play Regular-Season Game In Mexico

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from wftv.com ...... NEW YORK -- The NFL will play a regular-season game outside of the United States for the first time in the league's 86-year history in October when the Arizona Cardinals meet the San Francisco 49ers in Mexico City.

The Cardinals will be the host of the nationally-televised Sunday night contest on October 2, as ESPN will broadcast the game starting at 8:30 p.m. (et).

"Mexico is the country with the most NFL fans outside of the United States," said NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue in a statement. "Our fans in Mexico are knowledgeable and passionate and they are ready for this next step. They have supported our American Bowl games in record numbers and NFL programming has been part of television in Mexico for many decades.

"The Cardinals and 49ers play in markets with large Hispanic communities, including many people of Mexican descent. This game will generate new excitement both in Mexico and in Hispanic communities throughout the United States, and it promises to become a milestone in the NFL's history as a global sport."

The Cardinals will shift one of their eight home games from Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe to Azteca Stadium. An American Bowl pre-season game at Azteca Stadium set an NFL record with 112,376 fans when the Dallas Cowboys played the Houston Oilers on August 15, 1994.

"The Cardinals are honored to have been selected for this historic and unprecedented game," said team vice president Michael Bidwill. "When we learned of the league's interest in staging an international regular-season game we felt the Cardinals would be a natural fit this season for a number of reasons. Cultivating the Hispanic fan base has been a long-standing priority, and our final season at Sun Devil Stadium certainly provides the optimal timing to host the game this season. We couldn't be more excited about the direction in which our organization is headed. This game will provide a phenomenal opportunity to showcase the Cardinals to a national and international audience."

The Cardinal franchise took part in the NFL's first game outside of North America on August 16, 1976 when the St. Louis Cardinals posted a 20-10 pre- season victory over San Diego in Tokyo, Japan.

San Francisco, meanwhile, has played the second-most international pre-season games in NFL history with eight, trailing only Dallas' nine.