In the 1960s, Mexican businessman Emilio Azcárraga Milmo had a dream. His dream was for Mexico to host the World Cup. At that time, no country in North America had ever been the host. The World Cup itself was still finding its footing - after several successful tournaments in the 1930s, World War II created a 12-year gap. The early post-war tournaments were successful, but they had only been held in Europe or South America. Was the World Cup ready to move to a new continent, and to a country that did not have hosting experience or the venues needed? To be awarded the tournament, Azcárraga knew that Mexico, specifically Mexico City needed to up its game, so to speak. They needed a stadium worthy of one of the biggest events in all of sports.
But where to find the money? Building a world-class stadium may have been cheaper in the 1960s than it is today, but it still was a massive undertaking. This would be one of the biggest construction projects in Mexico’s history. Building a stadium that could hold 110,000 spectators is difficult under the best of circumstances, let alone having to build one in the middle of one of the largest cities in the world. A lot of money would need to be raised in a country where money was scarce.
Despite the challenges, Azcárraga persevered. Workers broke ground on Estadio Azteca in 1961 and Mexico was awarded the 1970 World Cup in 1964 (Mexico City was also awarded the 1968 Olympics in 1963). The first soccer match was played in Spring 1966. Both the 1968 Olympics and 1970 World Cup were smashing successes, to the extent that Mexico would also host the 1986 World Cup, becoming the first country to host the World Cup twice. To this day Estadio Azteca remains one of the world’s premier venues.
To finance the stadium, Azcárraga came up with a great idea. He sold sky boxes to private investors for 115,000 pesos, or about $9,000 at the time. This was a tremendous amount of money. GDP per capita in Mexico at the time was less than $400 per year. A typical worker might make 115,000 pesos throughout their entire life. Obviously people would only pay such an astronomical amount if it came with some good conditions.
And it did. The deal was simple: pay a small fortune, and get free entry to every event held at Azteca. For 99 years. Mexico’s elite loved the idea. What a great way to flaunt your wealth. Buy a box, and you, your children, and your grandchildren will get to attend every event at Mexico’s most famous stadium for the rest of your lives. And your descendants won’t have to pay a dime. That means not only sporting events, which Azteca was built for, but any other events held there. It included concerts by Michael Jackson, U2, and Paul McCartney. It also included a mass celebrated by Pope John Paul II. Every event held at Azteca from 1966 until 2065 will be free for the descendants of those who had the foresight (and money) to buy a box. Others, seeking a windfall, have sold their box with the remaining years of exclusivity attached for upwards of $1 million.
Until now. Mexico, along with the United States and Canada, will be hosting the 2026 World Cup. Most of the matches will held in the United States, but Mexico City is one of three cities in Mexico (along with Guadalajara and Monterrey) that will have group matches. Of course, the organizer of the World Cup is FIFA, a group not known for being charitable, or for that matter, not known for being anything other than a rapacious Ragnarok of limitless hunger. One of the stipulations that Estadio Azteca officials agreed to was that FIFA would have total control of the venue throughout the World Cup. And FIFA has not yet said whether they would honor the 99-year contracts.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out. On one hand, it’s easy to discount the complaints of wealthy elites who inherited a golden ticket. On the other hand, a deal is a deal. Mexico has gotten already gotten to host the Olympics and the World Cup twice because of the deal they made with wealthy residents in the 1960s. Without those funds, the stadium may never have been completed, and the idea of Mexico hosting a third World Cup in 2026 would be a pipedream. Azteca officials, if they were honest, would have told FIFA that some boxes in the stadium were already spoken for. Mexico has seven stadiums that meet FIFAs 40,000 person minimum capacity, including Azteca, and they only need three. FIFA could then have chosen whether to honor the 99-year leases or not use Azteca.
This also gets to the uncertainty of 99-year deals. Both the stadium and the fans were taking a serious risk by signing such a long contract. In the 1960s, Mexico still had a relatively new system of government born out of the Mexican Revolution that ended in 1920. If another one were to occur, don’t count on any new government honoring a 99-year deal made between elites and the previous government. Additionally, the lifespan of most stadiums is far less than 99 years. In the United States, there are only three stadiums still in operation that have made it to the 70-year mark (Soldier Field, Wrigley Field, and Fenway Park). If Azteca is demolished or replaced then the deal is kaput. Stadium officials also took a risk. Who knows what things will look like in 99 years. Might such a deal prevent Azteca from being awarded a major event?
I’m interested to see what will happen. Without knowing much about the exact contracts or Mexican property rights law, it seems that the box owners are on firm footing. When the World Cup was played in Azteca in both 1970 and 1986, FIFA honored the deal, and box owners got to watch games for free. Hopefully precedent holds.