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https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/...Pos=1#cxrecs_s

Houston hosting Mexican soccer match El Clásico Regio this fall

By Chandler France – Reporter, Houston Business Journal
Jul 18, 2023

It’s the summer — and fall — of soccer in Houston as yet another major international match is coming to the Bayou City this year.

El Clásico Regio, the matchup between crosstown rivals Club de Futbol Monterrey and Club Tigres in Nuevo Leon, Mexico, is coming to the U.S. annually starting in 2023, Los Angeles-based sports marketing agency Primetime Sports & Entertainment said July 18. Houston will host the match for the first time as a stand-alone event on Oct. 14 at Shell Energy Stadium.

El Clásico Regio has been played in the U.S. three times, most recently in 2010 at the University of Houston's former Robertson Stadium as part of the now defunct InterLiga tournament.

The event will include various activities leading up to the match, such as a charity event, fan festival featuring team legend appearances, mascots, trophies and celebrities, and musical performances.

“With a substantial population of Mexican-Americans hailing from Monterrey in Texas, the state is definitely a big option to come back to,” said Fernando Orvañanos, partner of Primetime Sports & Entertainment. “The clubs regularly play in the state and do very well with attendance.”

Tigres and CF Monterrey have competed over 100 times since their first Clásico Regio match in 1974. The two clubs compete in Liga MX, the top professional soccer division in Mexico. They are two of the most valuable clubs in the league, worth $75.33 million and $74.88 million, No. 3 and No. 4 in Liga MX, respectively, according to soccer information website Transfermarkt.