FIFA’s greed provides an opening to American football in Mexico

When it comes down to squeezing fans, the NFL is extraction done right.

It’s a provocation to delve head first into the importance of American football in Mexico the week after the country kicked off the start of the FIFA World Cup. It is also a topic that emerges naturally as fans of futbol (soccer) draw comparisons with its US counterpart—and not for the better.

To many, this World Cup’s inaccessible stadium ticket prices, obsession with ads, and infamous hydration breaks smack of the culture surrounding American football. The National [American] Football Association—the NFL—and its Mexican fans would balk at the comparison. Not only because the two sports have had long rivalry spanning over a century in the country, but because, whilst Mexicans have reported feeling down on FIFA, the business and pastime of American football in Mexico is on the up and up despite the sport’s hefty pricing.