Mexico, the sixth country with the highest percentage of football fans
When it comes to football, Mexico is the country with the fourth-largest number of football fans in the world, and Liga MX enjoys a healthy local context.
Mexico is the fourth country with the largest number of soccer fans worldwide, with Liga MX enjoying a healthy local context, but it can also look to the North to exploit its broader range of growth. Soccer is the most beloved sport in Mexico, but the Aztec tournament has its greatest margin of maneuver in the United States, explained Max Barnett, representative of the Nielsen company in Latin America.
During his talk in Football Week, he explained that Mexico is the sixth country on the planet where the majority of the population identifies with football.
The list is headed by the Arab Emirates with 80% of its people interested in this sport, followed by Thailand (78%), Chile (75%), Portugal (75%), Turkey (75%) and Mexico (73%). "I'm really surprised by how avid Mexican fans are about sports. Mexico loves soccer, they also have a great interest in football and also in boxing."
In terms of sporting events, the most relevant in the country are the World Cup, the MX League, the Olympics, American football, and the Copa MX. However, the most revealing data are those related to the last Liga MX Finals broadcast in the United States.
The Cruz Azul vs. América del Apertura 2018 had more audience than the Champions League Final of that year, and also more than the series for the MLS title. In the US, Liga MX is the second circuit with the largest fan base. This is because 55 percent of sports fans see something of the Mexican tournament at least once a week. That puts him second on the list, below the NFL (with 65 percent), and above collegiate football (53%), MLB (50%), and NBA (45%).
"It is not surprising that soccer is the number one sport in Mexico, more than half of the population shows an interest in football. Football is the king and when we see numbers in the global context it becomes more interesting."
Although it is still far from having the popularity of other sports in the US, football is the one that grew the most between 2014 and 2018, since 4% of preference went up to 7%, while football decreased by 39% to 37%, basketball from 12% to 11% and baseball from 13% to 9%. In a previous talk, the president of the Liga MX noted that the Aztec tournament is the fourth-highest number of assists in the world, which coincides with data Barnett as followers on social networks Mexican circuit, because it is behind of the Premier League, LaLiga of Spain and the Bundesliga, but in front of circuits such as MLS, Italian Serie A and French Ligue 1.
