Arizona Cardinals officially announce 2020 home game in Mexico City

We knew it a couple of weeks ago, but now the Arizona Cardinals have made it official.

The Cardinals will play a game in Mexico City, Mexico in 2020.

From the team:

The National Football League today announced that the Arizona Cardinals will be the home team for a game at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City in 2020. Additional details, including the date and opponent, will be announced later.

This will be the Cardinals second all-time game in Mexico City. It comes 15 years after the Cardinals made NFL history by playing the San Francisco 49ers in the NFL’s first regular season game held outside the United States. In 2005, the Cards earned a 31-14 win over the 49ers at Estadio Azteca in front of a then-record crowd of 103,467.

“Two years ago when the NFL awarded Super Bowl LVII to Arizona and State Farm Stadium, we understood the requirement of hosting an international game before 2023,” said Cardinals Chairman and President MICHAEL BIDWILL. “We are thrilled to learn that this game will take place at Estadio Azteca where we received such an enthusiastic reception in 2005. We are extremely grateful for the support we receive from fans in Mexico and look forward to an incredible experience.”

Arizona was awarded Super Bowl LVII in May of 2018 and the game will be played in February of 2023. It will be the fourth time Arizona has hosted a Super Bowl and the third at State Farm Stadium. “The last Super Bowl in Arizona in 2015 resulted in an economic impact of over $700 million,” Bidwill said. “The enormous benefit communities receive from hosting the game is well-established and increases each year, as does the competition to land it.”

CARDINALS & INTERNATIONAL PLAY: The Cardinals experience in international play goes back decades. Arizona has competed in two regular season games outside the U.S. in the last 15 years but the team’s role in breaking ground internationally dates back to the 1970s.

• 1st NFL Game Outside of North America: The Cardinals and San Diego Chargers met for a preseason matchup in Tokyo, Japan on August 16, 1976 at Korakuen Stadium.
• 1st NFL Game in Europe: On August 6, 1983 the Cardinals faced the Minnesota Vikings in a preseason matchup at Wembley Stadium in London.
• 1st NFL Regular Season Game Played Outside the U.S.: On October 2, 2005 the Cardinals earned a 17-point come-from-behind victory over the San Francisco 49ers before a then-record crowd of 103,467 at Estadio Azteca.

RETURNING TO MEXICO CITY: The Cardinals’ 2005 victory over the 49ers in Mexico City was the first of four NFL regular season games in Mexico City.

Estadio Azteca has hosted three NFL games in the last four seasons. Last November, the Kansas City Chiefs earned a 24-17 victory over the Chargers there on Monday Night Football, two-and-a-half months before winning Super Bowl LIV. Estadio Azteca also hosted the Patriots-Raiders in 2017 and Texans-Raiders in 2016. The Cardinals will join the Raiders as the only teams to have played multiple regular season games at Estadio Azteca.