It's gained in popularity among the latinx population due to teams in Miami, Phoenix and Dallas which all have large latinx populations. Not to mention the influx of Latino NHLers. Austin Matthews has actually shown interest in playing an exhibition game as his mother is Mexican.
The entire country is in agreeable centralized timezones and travel isn't too bad so it's not entirely untenable. Obviously the easy pick is Mexico City as its the highest population center, largest metro and not to mention a capital city. However, it is quite far south into Mexico, I think actually the more ideal locale would be Tijuana.
Tijuana is on the border with California, which makes it easier to travel too, it's a beautiful coastal city, meaning the players would like to live there and it's the second biggest city in the country, dwarfed by Mexico City sure but it's still millions of people.
The sport of Hockey itself is growing in popularity in Mexico as well as a result of NHL run initiatives to teach the sport to kids in the country and their own International Hockey Teams have been making wonderful strides.
Obviously there are a lot of issues and it means ANOTHER border and countries COVID laws to manage so it's not going to happen soon but maybe in ten years, I wouldn't be surprised.
I can't see the NHL expanding there before MLB, the NFL, or the NBA. MLB makes the most sense. It's great that hockey is gaining popularity there, but baseball is already very popular there and they don't have an MLB team yet.
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If the Mighty Ducks movies have taught me anything, it's that Trinidad and Tobago is ready for a hockey team. I think the NHL should consider expanding there first.
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I can't see the NHL expanding there before MLB, the NFL, or the NBA. MLB makes the most sense. It's great that hockey is gaining popularity there, but baseball is already very popular there and they don't have an MLB team yet.
I'm not sure I get the reasoning behind waiting our turn. There are many obstacles to overcome before this can be feasible, but surely not because a more popular sport has yet to make inroads.
For a city to become an NHL city, I think they need to have, or quickly create a robust grass roots/ minor hockey scene.
I once had a pretty sweet job offer in Mexico City. While I was always 99% a no, I did research youth hockey just in case. There was basically nothing.
Even southern US markets had, at the very least, people from traditional hockey markets relocated there.
I can't see the NHL expanding there before MLB, the NFL, or the NBA. MLB makes the most sense. It's great that hockey is gaining popularity there, but baseball is already very popular there and they don't have an MLB team yet.
They didn't wait for Vegas to get more popular professional sports in before entering and that was a huge success.
I can see why other sports leagues like NFL/MLB etc would want to be there first, but there's no reason for the NHL to wait in line if they can get in.
Yeah put up a party and Mexicans will show up. But it does seem like a reach, I don't think they even have a full size rink in Monterrey (could be wrong) let alone an arena. I know they had one inside a shopping mall. Literally an open area where they would have the ice and shops around, not full size of course. The sport is minuscule here.
Economics of the sport tell me it's highly unlikely in our lifetime Mexico gets any pro team from one of the big four. In today's sports you must have corporate support to buy box seats, and secondly dollar parity. A google search shows the Mexican Pesos to Canadian dollar at a 16-1 ratio. The economics just aren't there. Secondly the player safety / government corruption, etc. fully means the major sports would not want that extra complication on their hands as it could be disastrous for the league itself if things to awry. I don't think the logistics of cross-border or time zones factors in much.
The NHL in Mexico?
