Texas athletics director Steve Patterson has grand plans for the future of Texas Longhorn football. Aside from winning championships, Patterson wants to grow and expand the Texas football program beyond the borders of not only Texas, but also the country.
According to Austin American Statesman, Patterson has interest in Texas football playing a game in Mexico City.
Putting together a game in Mexico City would likely require moving a Texas road game to a neutral site in Mexico City, which means getting an opponent to agree to such a move. This is because it would be unlikely Texas would give up a home date for such a game. And you can forget moving the Oklahoma game out of the Cotton Bowl.
The idea of playing a game outside of the United States is certainly nothing new. Penn State and UCF will open the 2014 season in Ireland. Notre Dame and Navy did so to open the 2012 season and future game sin Ireland are already being lined up as well. College football has been played in Mexico on a regular basis for decades as well, although not quite on the same level of play that Texas would bring to the table. The Aztec Bowl has featured a number of all-star players from the Division 2 and Division 3 schools in a game against a team of Mexican all-stars. The game was first played in 1950 and was played most years through 2011, and it has featured an NCAA-sanctioned team since 1973.
Patterson’s view is not limited to the nation to the south of the Texas border though. A vision to grow the Texas brand across the Pacific Ocean is also on the table.
Pac 12 commissioner Larry Scott has previously expressed interest in growing the conference brand across the Pacific Ocean as well, making note of an increasing Asian influence through the conference’s membership and the connections that could be put in place to help grow the Pac 12 Network and conference branding. Patterson seems to have a similar desire for Texas, although how easily that vision can be put in to focus at Texas remains to be seen. For now, Patterson has smaller goals to keep him busy, such as increasing annual revenue and the search for more television partners to carry The Longhorn Network.
