NBA expansion Mexico franchise arena, Digi Mart USA News (Mexico City, Mexico): Thirty-five NBA games have been played in Mexico since 1992, sixteen of them in the regular season, and no country outside the United States and Canada has hosted more NBA games than Mexico. On Saturday, Arena CDMX was again filled for a Denver Nuggets 114-102 win over the Indiana Pacers in front of 20,191 fans, who sold out tickets days in advance and chanted “MVP” for Nikola Jokic.
Jokic, a three-time league MVP, finished two assists short of a triple-double with 19 points, 13 rebounds and 8 assists. Pascal Siakam was the game’s top scorer with 23 points and surpassed 13,000 career points.
During halftime, the league honored Horacio Llamas, the first Mexican to play in the NBA, along with Greivis Vasquez, Danilo Gallinari and Nene.
The court featured a special Day of the Dead design for the third consecutive year. Indiana also ran a broader promotional week in Mexico, launching Spanish-language accounts, partnering with WWE and AAA, bringing in Grande Americano, and running activations with Checo Perez and Cadillac, while Lucas Oil hid prizes around the city.
Interest in the NBA in Mexico has grown from 12.5 million followers in 2012 to 33 million in 2026, an increase of 164 percent. More than 80,000 people registered for a chance to buy arena tickets.
According to league figures cited in the column, 21.6 million unique fans watched games via streaming last season, and the league’s Mexico-directed accounts exceed 8 million followers and generate about 200 million interactions a year. Broadcasts are carried by ESPN and Disney+.
Asked about expansion, Commissioner Adam Silver, who attended the game, said the priority is Las Vegas and Seattle, and Mexico will have to wait. He acknowledged that Mexican investors have approached the league and that he does not doubt a franchise there would succeed, but said a team would need a new arena because the current venue was built for entertainment.
The column notes that the G League’s Capitanes have shown the capital can sustain a year-round team in the same arena, that the metropolitan area exceeds 22 million residents, and that Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said Mexico has NBA-level infrastructure.
The column also points to counterarguments, including the lack of a dedicated venue, exchange rate conditions and the economy, which it says the league is unlikely to overlook. The author’s position is that the question is no longer whether Mexico deserves a franchise but who will build the arena, arguing that without a venue project and a named investor group, Mexico will remain a strong host and a perennial candidate.
