The Pittsburgh Steelers have a large fan base in Mexico and that group of Steelers Nation just might be able to see their favorite team play in their country during the 2018 regular season.
According to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com on Wednesday, the Steelers are working on a potential 2018 game in Mexico City. Fowler goes on to report that the Steelers were exploring a 2017 game in Azteca Stadium, but the New England Patriots and Oakland Raiders are now officially scheduled for a Mexico City matchup next season.
In May of 2015, Steelers team president Art Rooney II told Bob Labriola of steelers.com that he “would love to play another game in Mexico at some point.”
During an interview on Tuesday with Rooney, Labriola asked Rooney if he’s thrown the Steelers’ name in the hat as a possible candidate to play a game in Mexico in the near future.
“We have thrown our name in the hat,” Rooney said. “I dont know how quickly that will happen. I dont think that it will be in 2017, but as you may know, the league came to an agreement with the authorities in Mexico to hold three games in Mexico. The first was this past season, so there’s sort of two more on the schedule and obviously the potential for that to continue beyond that. So, we think we’ll be on that schedule one of these years, but we have not been given any time frame so far.”
The Steelers last international game took place during the 2013 regular season against the Minnesota Vikings in London at Wembley Stadium. The Steelers lost that game 34-27 in front of a paid attendance of 83,518. The Steelers last played in Mexico during the 2000 preseason. They played the Indianapolis Colts on August 19 and lost that game 24-23 in front of a paid attendance of 87,145.
UPDATE: The PPG’s Gerry Dulac says a team source informs him the Steelers have no plans to play in Mexico City.
