NFL schedule leak: Chiefs, Rams to play on MNF in Mexico
By Matt O'Leary
When the NFL heads to Mexico City in 2018, the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Rams will square off on Monday Night Football.
The NFL is keeping the tradition going of playing in Mexico City. For the third year in a row, an NFL game will be featured in Mexico’s capital. This time the game will be played on one of the biggest stages the NFL has to offer.
The Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Rams will play on Nov. 19, on ESPN’s Monday Night Football. The NFL is big on expanding their brand internationally and has increased the volume of London and Mexico City games over the last few years.
It makes sense, especially when it comes to teams like the Rams to host an international game. Los Angeles ranked 25th in the league in attendance last year, and the previous host Raiders ranked 30th.
If they aren’t drawing well at home it seems logical to move one of their eight home games to a neutral location. In this instance, the games in Mexico City sell out a 72,000 capacity stadium.
The Rams averaged 63,392 attendees at their home games last year. That’s roughly 10,000 fewer people than the projected attendance at the game in Mexico City on Nov. 19, 2018.
As for the game itself, it will be a premier matchup, something that’s rare for international games. Often times the teams that play international games are chosen because they aren’t drawing well. More often than not teams that draw poorly are bad football teams thus resulting in a subpar on-field product for the international fans.
This Chiefs and Rams matchup is certainly an exception to the rule. Both teams feature an exciting young quarterback and are widely considered teams on the rise. By mid-November, both teams, at least on paper, should be fighting for playoff positioning.
This game features one of the best AFC teams going up against one of the best NFC teams giving the Mexico City fans a real showing of the product the NFL has to offer. This should be appointment television when the time comes.