Texas AD Steve Patterson would like to look at a game in Mexico City
Texas would like to play another game at a neutral site, and one of those possible neutral sites could be Mexico City.
Athletic director Steve Patterson revealed that in an interview with Kirk Bohls at the Austin American-Statesman on Tuesday. The game would be a supplement to the neutral-site game at the Cotton Bowl against Oklahoma, and not a replacement.
"No," Patterson told Bohls. "We're gonna keep playing OU where we are. Another game? Maybe."
It's not a guarantee by any means, but if Patterson is discussing it publicly, it's probably been thought about seriously.
The Mexico City game could be played at the famed Azteca Stadium, which has a capacity of 105,000. It's hosted NFL games before too. The Dallas Cowboys have played preseason games there and the Arizona Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers played a regular season game there in 2005.
A game with a marquee opponent would probably be necessary too. As much as some Texas fans wouldn't like to admit it, the cachet of Texas and another team from a power conference is larger than the power of Texas alone.
Why would Texas be looking to expand into another country like Notre Dame did by playing in Dublin, Ireland to start the 2012 season? Well, it probably has something to do with his stated goal of increasing revenue for the athletic department.
Patterson would like Texas' annual projected revenue to go from $169 million to $200 million. Branching out into untapped markets is the easiest way to do that. There are more potential Texas fans available to be converted outside the United States than in, especially as the Longhorn Network struggles for widespread distribution.
Plus, when Notre Dame started the season in Dublin, it went to the National Championship Game. If it could work out that way for Texas, the Longhorns may become world travelers.
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is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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