The NBA's annual Mexico City game makes the case for future expansion

As the calendar moves away from the hectic sports equinox, the NBA is likely to gain more attention for its early-season action with its annual trip to Mexico.

On Saturday, the Miami Heat and Washington Wizards play in Mexico City, while the NBA once again hosts a regular-season game south of the border, this time on one of Mexico's most important holidays, Día de los Muertos (“Day of the Dead”) “) “).

To people unfamiliar with the holiday, it may seem strange that a basketball game is taking place just by hearing the word “dead,” but in fact the holiday is as vibrant and festive as any in the world. “It’s different than how we celebrate this day around the world,” Arnon de Mello, managing director of NBA Canada and Latin America, said in a video interview. “For Mexico ('Day of the Dead') is really a celebration. It’s a happy day, so it will be great to combine that with this great experience of an NBA game in the city.”

The league's connection with Mexico dates back to 1992, when preseason competitions were regularly held in Mexico City and Monterrey. Excluding seasons impacted by COVID-19, the league has played at least one regular season game at Arena CDMX (Mexico City Arena) since the 2014–15 season.

Washington will play its fourth game in the country while Miami plays its third. Irvine, California-born Heat forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. holds dual citizenship of both the United States and Mexico and played for the Mexican national team during the 2019 Pan American Games.

Aside from having a key rotation player with Mexican roots on the pitch, Saturday will be special because the game will be played on the holiday for the first time. Raul Zarraga, the league's director of operations in Mexico, said there will be some surprises for fans that day, including a specially designed court similar to what the federation introduced for its NBA Cup. “Now we are doing our own version and that will be the main creative flag for the fans to build this cultural concept with the fan base,” he said.

The annual game comes at a time when interest in bringing an expansion franchise to Mexico City can't seem to get any stronger. As NBA club valuations continue to rise and a new media deal is inked that will bring in $76 billion in revenue over the next decade, speculation about a new round of expansion is never too late. During his tenure as commissioner, the late David Stern envisioned bringing an NBA team to Mexico City, and Arena CDMX ticks all the boxes for an NBA-ready venue.

Current commissioner Adam Silver often reiterates these hopes, saying before the game last November: “We're not in expansion mode right now, but as time goes on organizations grow and I think that presents an opportunity to expand our presence in more ways than just expanding “Expanding Mexico City and all the others.” The positive attributes… as a gateway to all of Central and Latin America is a great opportunity for a growing game.” The G League's Mexico City Capitanes, who have been playing in the city for three years, and the The annual Mexico City Games appear to have laid the foundation for a permanent NBA presence in the city.

De Mello said NBA teams often raise their hand to play in the city, not only so that players and families experience a new environment, but also so that their executives can evaluate whether it makes sense to play there regularly. “When the teams come, the offices come, the governors come, everyone can see what it's like to play in a city like Mexico City,” he said. “We have a fantastic arena that we have been playing in for many years, a state-of-the-art arena. So I think everything is there. And every time our commissioner has been asked, he brings up Mexico.

“We have the infrastructure, the transportation, everything online, our standards and the security so that people can be confident that they can go to the game,” Zarraga added. “Our job as (the Latin American department) is just to make sure we are in the right place at the right time to be considered as a solid candidate for potential opportunities.”

Of course, the NBA isn't the only major men's league based in the U.S. that has made significant strides in expanding its reach around the world, and it certainly isn't the only one in Mexico. While fans and some business observers believe the NBA and its peer leagues are competing for limited fan attention, de Mello sees the opposite.

He referenced a conversation with someone at the NFL in September when the league debuted in Brazil. The two exchanged notes to understand strategies for introducing their products to new countries. “Well, the sports business market is small,” he said of their collaboration. “We don’t think we see the other leagues as competition because at the end of the day it strengthens the market when all these entities become active.”

Zarraga agreed with de Mello, saying competitors leverage resources against each other to gain larger shares of the same market. “No one has done this in (Mexico),” he said. “On the contrary, we let the cake grow together and we have enough cake for the participants at the table.”