AP Photo/Matt Dunham
ESPN’s presentation of “Monday Night Football” will break with tradition and televise the national anthem tonight, ESPN confirmed to Business Insider. More
MEXICO CITY (AP) Mexican fans welcomed the NFL in raucous fashion, and it probably won’t be the last time Azteca Stadium hosts American futbol.
Next time, however, they’ll try to ban laser pointers.
Nearly 80,000 fans came to see the Raiders defeat the Houston Texans in a 27-20 win Monday night in what felt like a Raiders home game.
The crowd harassed the Texans and supported the Raiders , one of the most popular NFL teams in Mexico.
The success of the game and the full weekend of events could entice the league to bring more games to the Mexican capital.
WILD FANS
The NFL says 76,473 fans were at the game, and the atmosphere was very different from the more neutral crowd for games in London. Thousands of other football fans attended a weekend-long fan fest.
Although many wore silver and black, it was clear that the Cowboys, Texans, Steelers and Broncos also have fans south of the border.
”Besides the game, we had an excellent trip here, great experience for our players. Unbelievable crowd. Just a really cool atmosphere for both teams,” Texans coach Bill O’Brien said. ”It was a great trip as far as that’s concerned.”
Before the game, there was concern that Mexican fans could boo the U.S. national anthem because of the political tension since Donald Trump was elected president, but the crowd did not .
A SOCCER CROWD
The fans’ behavior was similar to the atmosphere when the Mexican national team or local club America play their soccer matches in Azteca Stadium.
”I was able to play at Wembley Stadium…