Unlike most soccer teams, the Mexican National Team does not play at home. the mexican team He usually plays more home games in the United States than in his own territoryand this is mainly due to an agreement with a company that ensures a significant economic income for the Mexican Soccer Federation, to such an extent that in some aspects it usually leaves better dividends than the World Cup itself.
The Mexican National Team only plays in Mexico in official matches, that by regulation it is obliged to be within the territory, for which the duels of the Concacaf Nations League and the qualifiers for the World Cups are played in national stadiums.
However, El Tri plays several friendly matches in the United States, many times against teams from the same Concacaf zone, such as Guatemala, Costa Rica and Honduras, as well as Conmebol teams, such as Paraguay, Ecuador and Chile; You can rarely play against powers like Argentina and Brazil.
Why does the Mexican National Team play more in the United States than in Mexico?
Al Tri and the Mexican Soccer FederationHe has been criticized for many years for playing more “cool” games, as ‘Tuca’ Ferretti qualifies, in the comfort of the United States, that against European rivals, as a visitor to the Old Continent, and this is due to the contract that Mexico has with the company Soccer United Marketing (SUM).
SUM is a company that has been dedicated to organizing friendly matches in the United States and is based in New York. He has worked directly with the Mexican National Team since 2003 and for 20 years he also worked with the United States National Team, which since 2023 preferred to work independently for the 2026 World Cup.
Instead, the The Mexican team renewed its contract, which has a duration of six years, which guarantees friendly matches in the United States until 2028. By 2022, the year of the World Cup, El Tri played 17 matches, of which 14 were at home… well, in theory, well, in reality seven were in the United States, two in Spain and five in Mexico, the latter by regulation.
In this way, the farewell game before El Tri traveled to Europe to close their preparation in Girona, was played in California, United States, against Colombia. In that 2022, the last time Mexico played in Mexico, it was in the month of June, against Suriname, in Torreón, and with a squad made up of players ruled out for the World Cup, such as Marcelo Flores, David Pizarro, Sebastián Córdova, Diego Láinez, Santiago Giménez and Carlos Acevedo.
Selection A, made up of World Cup players, played for the last time that year in Mexico in the month of March, against El Salvador.
For Femexfut, it is a better business to play in the United States than Mexico, since it represents an income almost tripled to that obtained by playing in national stadiums, in which during the era of ‘Tata’ Martino it was difficult to fill up.
The business of playing friendlies in the United States
According to data from The Economist, the Mexican National Team has brought more than four million fans to its games in the United States since it works hand in hand with SUM. Stadiums in the United States tend to fill up because the Tri fan base is 60 million, according to Femexfutalthough not all are necessarily Mexican, but rather Latino.
In accordance with data from the Mexican government in 2018, more than 38 million Mexican people live in the United States, although the figure grew in 2022 with the reification of the Mexican Constitution, which recognizes as nationals grandchildren of people born in Mexico and living in the United States or other countries (before only children were recognized).
These figures explain the reason why US stadiums look full every time Mexico plays, and that is that the Tri carries a sense of belonging which also makes it a profitable product.
For each match, SUM generates close to nine million dollarsof which guarantees two million dollars to the Mexican Soccer Federation, which, at the same time, is obliged to play five games a year in the United States, not counting the official duels of tournaments such as the Gold Cup or the Nations League, which although they are played in the United States, are organized by Concacaf.
In this way, by fulfilling the commitment of the five games, a ticket of 10 million dollars a year. In 2022, after the failure in the World Cup in Qatar, Femexfut entered nine million for its three games in the group stage, that is, in terms of income, The friendly matches in the United States were more profitable than the World Cup itself.
The friendly games represent, according to Yon de Luisa, little more than a third of the annual budget of the Mexican Soccer Federation.
Why do friendly matches outside of the FIFA Date?
In the match against the United States in 2023, the new contract is launched, which guarantees 60 million dollars to Femexfut for the six-year contractwith which you can finance part of the organization of the 2026 World Cup.
However, to comply with the five annual games, the calendar must be maneuvered and stretched. In 2023 Mexico will have official competitions in the Nations League and Gold Cup during the summerso the remaining 2023 calendar is limited to the FIFA Dates of September, October and November, and at least it is said that in October the Tri could face Germany and possibly another rival in Europe, so these duels would not be administered by SUM.
For this reason, the new agreement was launched for the men’s team outside the FIFA Dates, against the United States, without players who are active in Europe, in order to comply with the agreement of five annual duels.
The Women’s National Team is also going to the United States
This new agreement now includes the Women’s National Team, which on the FIFA Date of April, played a couple of matches in the United States against clubs, for which we not only see the men’s Tri leave, but also now to the women’s team to play matches outside of Mexico.
The first matches of Tri Women in 2023 were held in Chicago, ante Chicago Red Stars y en Houston, against the Houston Dynamo. All this makes the Mexican Soccer Federation one of the most powerful in economic matters in the world, and for some years it even surpassed the English Federation.
