ESPN's Monday Night Football will feature a special presentation in Week 11. The San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals will play in Estadio Azteca in Mexico City on November 21 at 8 p.m. eastern time, concluding the NFL’s international game series for the 2022 season.
What's Happening
- ESPN and ESPN Deportes will each present the Cardinals-49ers, as viewers will be treated to a traditional telecast that also features a celebration of cross-border pride and the nexus of Mexican culture and football.
- For ESPN’s Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, the game marks their first international call together, while Lisa Salters has called two games previously from Mexico City.
- On ESPN Deportes, Eduardo Varela, Pablo Viruega will call the game with John Sutcliffe and Rebeca Landa as the sideline reporters.
- Highlighting the culture and setting throughout the telecast including:
On ESPN:
- The opening tease explores and celebrates all of the unique aspects of this special game – including culture, atmosphere, and energy of Mexico City.
- The traditional Monday Night Football music will receive a Latin pop and rock remix.
- During the telecast, the song La Vida by Snow Tha Product will be heard, along with Mexican music coming in and out of commercial breaks.
- Scenes from in and around Mexico City will be showcased, including a youth football game and Mexican designers creating NFL apparel.
- A portion of the halftime performance by Latin Grammy award-winning, 24-piece Mexican band, Grupo Firme.
- Custom cleats representing Mexican heritage worn by 49ers’ Fred Warner and Cardinals’ Antonio Hamilton.
- Halftime from inside Estadio Azteca, hosted by Suzy Kolber alongside Booger McFarland and Adam Schefter. Additionally, at halftime, ESPN will debut the final trailer for Avatar: The Way of Water coming to theaters December 16.
ESPN Deportes:
- Spotlight on Mexican Women’s National Flag Football during the game. Rebeca Landa, defensive player for the Mexican Women’s National Flag Football team and ESPN Deportes’ MNF commentator will be among the players recognized on the field.
- A portion of the halftime performance featuring Latin Grammy award-winning regional Mexican band, Grupo Firme will be shown.
- Special guests are expected to join the telecast throughout the game.
Pregame Coverage to Highlight Mexico City Culture:
- Leading into the 49ers-Cardinals, both ESPN and ESPN Deportes will be live at Estadio Azteca. Highlights on ESPN include:
- ESPN’s Monday Night Countdown will be hosted by Suzy Kolber alongside Larry Fitzgerald, Robert Griffin III, Booger McFarland, Steve Young and Adam Schefter, providing traditional Sunday recap and preview of the MNF game.
- During Monday Night Countdown, features reporter Michelle Beisner-Buck will be joined by ESPN Deportes’ John Sutcliffe an inside look at Estadio Azteca to give viewers at home a sense of the local scene.
- Multiple production elements will highlight the NFL’s activities leading into and around the game in Mexico, including the Youth Football Clinic, NFL Tochito National Tournament, Club Cantina watch party and more.
- A conversation between 49ers tight end George Kittle and Beisner-Buck as San Francisco eyes its third straight win.
- A feature on Rita Carvalho, a 49ers fan who lives in Portugal, who decided back in the spring to draw and post a picture of Jimmy Garoppolo until the quarterback was traded. Eight months later – and with no trade in sight – she continues to draw.
- Prior to Monday Night Countdown, ESPN’s weekly Monday programming will begin with NFL Rewind (3-4 p.m.) and NFL Live (4-5 p.m.) from Bristol, Conn.
Additional Highlights around the International Game:
- ESPN is working with artist Tavo Montañez, who is designing a mural on Chapultepec in front of Televisa Chapultepec. The mural includes Mexico landmarks El Angel, El Palacio de Bellas Artes, and a boat from Xochimilco, and the Estadio Azteca.
- ESPN social media team will have multiple producers on-location and a Man on The Street execution.
- com will have an oral history of the first regular season game played out of the country, when the 49ers and Cardinals played in Mexico in 2005.
ESPN Deportes to Feature Multiple Sets, Extensive Coverage:
- ESPN Deportes will look to capture the passion Mexican fans have for the sport via a series of stories that will air across shows leading up to Monday. On the day of the game, the network’s highlights include:
- Live content will originate from three different locations inside and outside of Estadio Azteca starting with Ahora on Nunca at 6:30 p.m., hosted by Mauricio Pedroza.
- Spanish-language edition of NFL Live from site at 7 p.m. leading into the game telecast
- More than 14 on-air personalities, including ESPN Deportes NFL experts Kary Correa, Javier Trejo, Ramiro Pruneda, Mauricio Pedroza, Ciro Procuna, Fernando Tirado, Eitan Benezra, Sergio Dipp and Miguel Pasquel, will lead the news and information coverage and interacting with fans.
- Immediately following the game, there will be a special edition of SportsCenter.
- com will post an Oral History feature about the 2005 NFL game (the first NFL regular season match played outside the US) with +10 interviews explaining all the behind the scenes. In addition, ESPNDeportes.com reporters Alfonso Mancilla and Ivis Aburto will cover all the action from the site.
- @ESPNDeportes Social Media platforms will include behind the scenes content, special themed graphics, a video piece testing Mexican fans knowledge of the game, and more.
Mexico City is Second International Game of the 2022 Season for ESPN:
- This presentation from Mexico City will be ESPN’s second international game of the season as in Week 8, the Denver Broncos-Jacksonville Jaguars from Wembley Stadium in London was the first-ever exclusive NFL game on ESPN+. The game was the most-viewed event ever on the industry-leading sports streaming service.
- This will be ESPN’s fourth Mexico City NFL game, having televised the first NFL regular season game there in 2005 on Sunday Night Football. ESPN also televised games there in 2016 and 2019.