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Fútbol Americano de México

Mexican American Professional Football
Most recent season or competition:
2022 FAM season
SportAmerican football
Founded7 August 2018
First season2019
Ceased2022
DirectorEdgar Zapata
No. of teams5 (2019),
7 (2020–2021),
9 (2022)
CountryMexico
HeadquartersMexico City, Mexico
Last
champion(s)		Rojos de la Ciudad de México
Most titlesPioneros de Querétaro
Rojos de la Ciudad de México
(1)
Related
competitions		Liga de Fútbol Americano Profesional,
North Louisiana Football Alliance[1]
Official websiteLigaFAM.mx

Mexican American Football (Spanish: Fútbol Americano de México, FAM) was a professional American football minor league in Mexico, founded in 2018. Due to sponsorship reasons, the league was also known as FAM-YOX for the 2022 season.

Starting with five teams, the FAM expanded to seven members in 2020 and nine members in 2022 in the cities of Cancún, Chihuahua, Ciudad Juárez, Jalisco, Mexico City, Monterrey, Naucalpan, San José del Cabo and Zapopan. The FAM season spanned 8 regular season games in May and June with each team playing every other team in the league once. The postseason ran in July.

Alongside the Liga de Fútbol Americano Profesional (LFA), the FAM was the top level of professional American football in Mexico, as both leagues competed for television exposure, players, and coaches.[2][3]

The league announced it would shut down operations in late 2022.

History

Mexican American Football (FAM) was founded on August 7, 2018, as Liga de Football Pro (LFP). The league was founded by the same initial investors of the Liga de Fútbol Americano Profesional (LFA), which had been operating since 2016, with the intention of competing directly with them, offering a different business model. According to the league, their final goal was to merge with the LFA with the two league champions playing in a bowl, similar to the Super Bowl after the AFL–NFL merger.

2019

The league held its inaugural season in 2019 with five teams: Bulldogs de Naucalpan, Centauros de Ciudad Juárez, Pioneros de Querétaro, Tequileros de Jalisco and the Titanes de la Ciudad de México. The Pioneros finished as the first league champions after beating the Centauros 16–0 in the final.[4]

2020

In 2020 the league added the Caudillos de Chihuahua (Chihuahua Chieftains) as the first FAM expansion team,[5] while the Rojos de Lindavista (Lindavista Reds) and Marlins de Los Cabos (Cabos Marlins) would join soon thereafter.[6] In July the Pioneros decided to withdraw from the league and joined the Liga de Fútbol Americano Profesional (LFA) for the 2020 season,[7] while the Titanes disbanded. The season had to be canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico after only four weeks.

2021

For the 2021 season, the FAM added the Rarámuris de Ciudad Juárez (Juárez Raramuris)[8] and the Tiburones de Cancún (Cancún Sharks),[9] while the Centauros withdrew from the league.[10] In February it was announced that former NFL first round draft pick Trent Richardson signed with the Caudillos de Chihuahua.[11][3][12] When asked of his role on the team Richardson said: "I might play. I might be a part of making decisions or helping out bringing awareness or I might be a part of D – all of the above. So we'll see."[13] In 2021, the Pioneros returned to the FAM.[14] The start of the season was initially postponed from April to June.[15] However, the 2021 season was ultimately canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[16] The league still found success with three players on FAM rosters in 2021 making NFL appearances in 2022.[citation needed]

2022

In 2022, the league returned after a two year hiatus from COVID with nine teams.[17] The league doubled in size since inception despite the break, in large part due to the growing popularity of American football in Mexico, which had recently become the second most popular sport in the country.[18] It also grew in popularity due the signing of a few high profile athletes, such as two ex starting NFL running backs in Trent Richardson and Antonio Andrews.

The league faced financial trouble and shut down operations in September 2022 after being able to finish the season.[19] Multiple teams migrated to the rival LFA league.[19]

Structure and schedule

The league played with National Football League (NFL) rules. The final roster size was 48 players, with each team having up to 16 roster spots for foreign born players (non-Mexican). This also contributed to the high level of competition in the FAM compared to other international leagues (mostly in Europe), which usually allow only two to five roster spots for Americans. Many teams would have 70+ players invited to training camp, which runs in March and April, with final cuts occurring before the season to trim the roster to the final size of 48.

For the 2022 season, the league had five US based tryouts across Texas, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, and California. Each tryout consisted of 30 to 70 athletes across a range of skill levels and experience, from recent high school standouts to ex NFL players. The league also had local regional tryouts in Mexico, mostly selecting players from ONEFA, the highest division of Mexican collegiate football.

The salary cap for FAM teams is $1,300,000 Mexican pesos (approximately $66,000 USD) for the entire season. The purpose of the salary cap is to prevent the team's owners from unsustainable spending on player salaries and to prevent a competitive imbalance among teams, but the league allows additional salary spending for international players (similar to Major League Soccer) that is exempt from the salary cap, in order to increase in on-field competition.[3]

Season format

The 8-weeks regular season was held from March through June, with games were held on Saturdays and Sundays. Each team played four home and four away games. Four teams advanced to the playoff each year.

Balón de Plata Champions

The "Balón de Plata" (Silver Ball) was a single match at the end of the season that determines the season winner and FAM National Champion. The game was played at the home stadium of the higher seed team.

Season Champion Score Runner Up Winner head coach MVP
2019 Pioneros 16–0 Centauros Rassielh Lopez Victor Tejeda (QB)
2020 Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021 Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2022 Rojos 21–14 Parrilleros Raul Rivera Terry Stewart Jr. (TE)

Teams

Last active franchises

Team City Stadium Capacity First season Head coach
Bulldogs Naucalpan de Juárez, Mexico Estadio Redskins del Estado de México 3,000 2018 Rafael Duk
Caudillos Chihuahua City, Chihuahua Estadio Olímpico Universitario José Reyes Baeza 22,000 2019 Federico Landeros
Jefes Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua Estadio 20 de Noviembre 4,000 2022 David Silva
Marlins San José del Cabo, Baja California Sur Estadio Complejo Deportivo Don Koll 4,000 2020 César Martínez
Parrilleros Monterrey, Nuevo León Estadio Banorte 10,057 2022 Edmundo Reyes
Pioneros Querétaro City, Querétaro La Pirámide 4,000 2018 Alberto de León
Rojos Mexico City Estadio Jesús Martínez "Palillo" 6,000 2020 Raúl Rivera
Tequileros Guadalajara, Jalisco Estadio Panamericano de Hockey/
Estadio Tres de Marzo 		2,000/
18,750 		2018 Francisco Vázquez
Tiburones Cancún, Quintana Roo Estadio Andrés Quintana Roo/
Coliseo Maya/
Estadio Cancún 86 		18,884 2021 Alejandro Evangelista[20]

Former teams

Team City Stadium Capacity First season Last season Fate
Centauros Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua Chucus Olascoaga 2,000 2019 2019 Folded
Titanes Mexico City Deportivo Plan Sexenal 2,275 2019 2019 Folded
Rarámuris Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua Estadio Chucus Olascoaga 5,000 2021 2021 Joined LFA

Membership timeline

Notable players

References

  1. ^ Jones, Jared (November 17, 2021). "The NLFA Starts Offseason Strong". Antler Sports Network. Archived from the original on 2021-12-26. Retrieved 2021-12-26.
  2. ^ Is there a market for two professional football leagues? {es}[permanent dead link‍]
  3. ^ a b c d Abbott, JC (21 February 2021). "Trent Richardson's signing in Chihuahua a glimpse at growing Mexican football arms race". American Football International. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  4. ^ González, Francisco (27 May 2019). "Pioneros de Querétaro, campeones de la Liga de Futbol Americano de México". Diario de Querétaro (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  5. ^ Carrión Velo, Alex (1 August 2019). "Chihuahua se une a la FAM". Diario.mx (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  6. ^ "Debuta Marlins de Los Cabos en Liga de Futbol Americano de México en el estadio Don Koll". Tribuna de Los Cabos (in Spanish). 24 February 2020. Archived from the original on 5 December 2020. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  7. ^ Martínez, Danaý (23 August 2019). "Pioneros se va a la LFA". El Universal Querétaro (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  8. ^ Morán, Eduardo (19 August 2020). "'Rarámuris' representará a Juárez en liga de futbol Americano de México". Diario.mx (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  9. ^ "Tiburones de Cancún, nuevo equipo de fútbol americano". Novedades Quintana Roo (in Spanish). SIPSE. 7 April 2020. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  10. ^ "Centauros de Ciudad Juárez fuera de la liga de Futbol Americano de México". El Sol de Parral (in Spanish). 19 August 2020. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  11. ^ Spurr, AJ (17 February 2021). "Former Alabama RB Trent Richardson will play professional football in Mexico". Roll Tide Wire. USA Today. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  12. ^ Potter, Charlie (21 February 2021). "Former Alabama RB Trent Richardson joins Caudillos de Chihuahua". BamaOnLine. 247Sports. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  13. ^ Inabinett, Mark (17 February 2021). "Trent Richardson joins Caudillos de Chihuahua". AL.com. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  14. ^ Quispe, Héctor (17 March 2021). "Pioneros de Querétaro regresan a la FAM". AM Querétaro (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  15. ^ "Pospone FAM hasta junio su inicio de temporada 2021". Receptor (in Spanish). 9 December 2020. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  16. ^ Juárez, Sergio (14 April 2021). "Cancela liga de futbol americano profesional la temporada 2021". El Heraldo de Chihuahua (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  17. ^ "PREVIA: Kickoff 2022, tercera temporada de FAM-Yox". Receptor (in Spanish). 27 April 2022. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  18. ^ Fedotin, Jeff (19 November 2019). "NFL Football Has Become Mexico's Second-Most-Popular Sport". Forbes. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  19. ^ a b Lospinuso, Vincent (19 October 2022). "Mexico: Fútbol Americano de México folds after four years of operation". American Football International. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  20. ^ "Confirma Tiburones a Alejandro Evangelista como su head coach". LIGA FAM-YOX (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-03-03.
  21. ^ a b "Llegan de USA los refuerzos para Rarámuris Pro Football". juarezadiario.com (in Spanish). November 19, 2020. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  22. ^ Arce, Pepe (January 10, 2021). "Estrella de la NFL jugará con los Tiburones de Cancún". Quadratín (in Spanish). Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  23. ^ López, Leopoldo (6 January 2021). "Llega otro refuerzo a Caudillos Pro Football". El Heraldo de Chihuahua (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 April 2021.
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