Imagine, if you will: On a chilly afternoon in November, the Minnesota Vikings loaded up a bus in the parking lot of TCO Performance Center. Justin Jefferson was acting cool, wearing his diamond-plated jewelry and sunglasses in the back of the bus while J.J. McCarthy sat up front next to Kevin O’Connell to soak in everything over the duration of the long trip.
The Vikings were all ready to go when Jefferson noted one problem with the bus.
“Hey, coach,” Jefferson shouted. “Who’s driving?”
At that moment, Jordan Addison showed up wearing a sombrero. He jumped into the driver’s seat and screamed, “YOU BOYS LIKE MEXICO?” before firing up the engine and heading south of the border.
The first thought of a bus full of Vikings barreling toward Mexico City may be unnerving to some. It’s also unlikely the Vikings will travel to Mexico by bus when they take on the San Francisco 49ers in an international contest that is the first hint of Minnesota’s 2026 schedule.
But in the end, it’s a massive victory for everyone. The Vikings stay somewhat close to home, and their legion of fans gets an accessible location.
The NFL’s international series is a great idea that grows the game globally, but it takes a lot to pull off. Last year, the Vikings went overseas for back-to-back games, playing the Pittsburgh Steelers in Ireland and the Cleveland Browns in London. By the time they got back, O’Connell looked like a stressed-out parent returning from a field trip from hell.
Unfortunately, the NFL also loves money, and the international games aren’t going away. Because of this, the league is booking a record nine international games for the upcoming season, with the usual trip to London joined by games in Melbourne, Rio de Janeiro, Paris, Madrid, and Munich.
Just the thought of making another international trip probably gave the Vikings spontaneous jet lag. But it may have been unavoidable given the NFL’s stake in these games. In addition, the NFL may have crafted the 17-game schedule to give each team an international game in the future, and who knows what will happen if the league expands to an 18-game slate.
For now, the Vikings probably didn’t want to go overseas. But Mexico City is a fair compromise.
A flight from the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport to Mexico City takes about four to five hours. That’s about the same amount of time that it takes to fly to the Bay Area if the Vikings were to battle the San Francisco 49ers at Levi’s Stadium. It’s also a trip that teams could do on a normal schedule if the NFL didn’t have events crafted around the game and didn’t require a massive operation like the two-week trip to Europe did last season.
Drawing the Niners is a bit difficult, given that they won a playoff game last year. It’s also not ideal, considering Mexico City has hosted the 49ers before, when they faced the Arizona Cardinals in 2005.
It will also be the 49ers’ second international game of the season, because they’ll face the Los Angeles Rams in Melbourne to open the year. That means the Vikings will face a team with the same amount of jet lag they had when they came home from Europe a year ago.
But just like the games overseas, Vikings fans will hop on a plane to see their team, and this trip is readily accessible. Assuming the game is on Nov. 22, fans can book a flight for around $850 on Google Flights. Even if fans prefer a nonstop flight for $1,400, it’s about half of what Detroit Lions will pay to see their team “host” the New England Patriots in Munich next fall.
The NFL may try to package this to drive up the price with added benefits, because it’s the NFL. And this doesn’t include things like hotel, ticket, and hospitality offered by the team. (An On Location package lists a “Three-Night Land Only Vikings Experience” including ticket, travel, hotel, and hospitality at $3,600 per person.) But diehard fans who want to make most games are more likely to make a trip on the same continent than flying around the world.
In a perfect situation, the Vikings and 49ers would just play their schedule in the United States. But that’s not how the NFL operates in this day and age. With the Vikings having to have an international game at some point in the schedule, only having to travel to Mexico is a big win for their hopes this season and another victory for fans who want to hop on a plane to catch the action.
