Adam Teicher, ESPN Staff Writer 6y

Chiefs have already started planning another international party

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Shortly after getting confirmation from the NFL that they will be playing another international game in 2018, this time in Mexico City, the Kansas City Chiefs began planning the party.

They’ll throw a fiesta for their ticket holders and other fans who make the trip, much as they did for their 2015 game in London, where they rented a pub.

“I’m sure [chairman Clark Hunt] will be buying everybody a cerveza [instead of] a pint this year," Chiefs president Mark Donovan said. “One of the more enjoyable [events] we did in London, we’ll do again."

The Chiefs will play the Los Angeles Rams next season in Mexico City, with the date and time to be announced. Kansas City will be the road team, as the game was initially set to be played in Los Angeles.

The Chiefs relinquished a game at Arrowhead Stadium in 2015 to play the Detroit Lions in London.

For the Chiefs, this is just one of eight regular-season games away from Kansas City, but like the London game, they won’t treat it as an ordinary away game. They don’t throw parties for their fans at every road stop.

“We’ll still celebrate it as bigger than a normal away game," said Donovan, adding that the Chiefs received a bump in interest from fans outside the Kansas City area from their trip to London. “It’s a great opportunity to get in front of another fan base. We saw the impact that can have when we were in London. We think the impact will be similar if not larger in Mexico City.

“We’re trying to attract new fans to the Chiefs, and this is a great opportunity to leverage that, not only in Mexico City but also in the Hispanic market. We’ll do a lot behind the scenes and in front of the scenes to take advantage of that."

From a football sense, the Chiefs also have an idea how to make an international trip pay off. They beat the Lions 45-10 in London.

Mexico City brings a different set of issues, perhaps the biggest being the altitude of almost 7,400 feet. The Chiefs play every season in Denver, but that’s only 5,280 feet above sea level.

“We understand the football side and we’ll focus with [the players] on what makes it most efficient for them," Donovan said. “How do we set them up for success? That will determine exactly when we go in, exactly where we stay, where we practice, all those things. We take a lot of detailed notes from the other teams on exactly what they did to be successful. There are a lot of meetings that are football-related to how we can win that game.

“It’s not your typical away game in the sense you’re going to altitude. We’ll look at that and figure out exactly what makes the most sense with travel. There’s been a lot of research and we’ve already had conversations with coach [Andy Reid] and with [general manager Brett Veach] about the benefit of going in early versus late. There are conflicting theories on that. We’ll talk to the Patriots and we’ll talk to the Raiders [they played in Mexico City last year] about their experiences there and what could make it more efficient. The good news is that it’s not a trip to London in terms of time. The time zone and the flight time will make it a little easier for us."

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