ESPN Scores Mexico City 'Monday Night Football' Telecast

ESPN will take its Monday Night Football franchise south of the border in November when it televises the Houston Texans-Oakland Raiders NFL football game, the network said Friday.

The game will be played Nov. 21 at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City and will serve as the first NFL regular season game from Mexico since the 2005 San Francisco 49’ers-Arizona Cardinals contest, also aired by ESPN.

ESPN Deportes will also offer the Spanish-language production of the Texans-Raiders game as part of its weekly MNF telecasts. Outside of the United States, ESPN will televise the game in Mexico and distribute the game to other parts of Spanish-speaking Latin America, among other countries and territories.

“The NFL’s return to Mexico will be a signature game during the 2016 NFL season and ESPN’s Monday Night Football and our NFL studio shows will properly showcase this event both in the U.S. and in Mexico,” said ESPN president John Skipper. “The opportunity to televise this game is particularly exciting for ESPN as part of our commitment to the NFL’s growing Hispanic fan base and with the launch of our new production studios and daily NFL Live show in Mexico City.”

R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.