Mark your calendars for November 18.
It was previously announced that the Los Angeles Chargers would be taking on the Kansas City Chiefs in Mexico City this season, but the date is now official, as the AFC West division rivals will meet in a Monday Night Football matchup in Week 11. The game is set for 5:15pm PT on Nov. 18 and will air on ESPN.
"We're honored to represent the NFL internationally for the second time in as many seasons," Chargers President of Business Operations A.G. Spanos said earlier this offseason. "The opportunity to bring a divisional game to fans in Mexico City is exciting. The atmosphere at Estadio Azteca is going to be electric, and we look forward to adding to the storied history of one of the world's most iconic sporting venues."
This game marks the second-straight year the Bolts are going international. Overall, the team has a rich global game history as the trip to Mexico City marks the Chargers' seventh game played abroad in franchise history and third to occur in the regular season. Along with London, they've previously played in Berlin, Tokyo and Sydney.
This year's event as Estadio Azteca is one cornerback Michael Davis is very excited about. In fact, he has ties to the area as his maternal family hails from Michoacán and now lives roughly 30 minutes outside of Mexico City.
"I'm pretty stoked personally because my family is there from my mom's side," mentioned Davis. "It means a lot (to play there). Especially since we're in Los Angeles and L.A. has a (large) Latino population, for us to go to a Spanish-speaking country and play there, it's a great opportunity for us."
But along with playing internationally comes the added bonus of playing the game in primetime. The Chargers had thrilling victories on the national stage last year, including on Thursday Night Football against the Chiefs. The magnitude of once again playing in primetime, not to mention against a divisional opponent, is not lost on the players as getting the national notoriety means a lot.
"It'll be sweet," Hunter Henry said. "Anytime you play in a primetime game, you get to play in front of everybody. Especially for me (personally), a lot of games aren't broadcast back home so it's always special when it's televised everywhere. It's always a big game playing the Chiefs. It's a division rivalry and we finally broke that losing streak to them last year. But, we know they've been atop our division the last couple years, so it'll always be a big game against them."
For more information, please visit chargers.com/mexico. Additionally, NFL On Location – the Official Hospitality Partner of the NFL – offers fans the Ultimate Mexico City Experience with simple one-stop planning and official game tickets. For more information click HERE.
