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The game attracted 9,500 international visitors who, on
average, spent more than five days in Mexico, as well as 21,500
visitors from elsewhere in the country, according to the results
of a study commissioned by the NFL.
The study also said total domestic and international tourist
spending was $43 million, of which $32 million was incremental
to Mexico City's economy.
A sellout crowd of 76,473 attended the game between the Oakland
Raiders and Houston Texans at the Azteca Stadium, which marked
the first time a regular-season NFL game had been played in
Mexico since 2005.
The NFL, which is committed to growing the game beyond the
borders of the United States, announced three weeks ago that it
will return to Mexico City for a second consecutive year when
the Raiders host the New England Patriots at the Azteca Stadium
during the 2017 season.
That clash would be the first NFL game held in Mexico since U.S.
President Donald Trump took office last month. But the NFL does
not expect politics or Trump's planned wall along the
U.S.-Mexico border to keep it from moving ahead with the game.
"I never say never because obviously a lot can happen between
now and when we play the game but at the moment I don't foresee
any circumstances under which the game wouldn't take place,"
Mark Waller, the NFL's Executive Vice President of
International, told Reuters.
"But if you were to ask me the same question about (our four
scheduled London games in 2017) I would give you the same answer
which is we would expect to go ahead but things can change there
as well."
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto. Editing by Steve
Keating.)
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