Dallas Mavericks Set to Play Pistons in Mexico, NBA Aims to Reignite Global Fan Base Amid Worrying U.S. Viewership Decline

Akash Vaishnav

Last updated: June 11, 2025

3 min read

NBA Moves Dallas Mavericks vs. Detroit Pistons to Mexico as Ratings Slump

Image Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

The Dallas Mavericks are all set to play an NBA game on the overseas turf early next season. This comes amidst growing call for market and product exposure in American sports. Such global marketing efforts aren’t unique to the NBA as many other sports leagues are also expanding their reach internationally.

The NBA recently released a statement suggesting that the Dallas Mavericks will play the Detroit Pistons in Mexico next season. The NBA game will be played in capital, Mexico City at the Arena CDMX on November 1st, 2025. Mexico has a huge basketball fan base.

This will mark the 34th NBA game hosted in Mexico since the league’s expansion efforts began. Outside the U.S. only Canada has hosted more NBA games than Mexico since 1949. The November 1st game will also coincide with the with the traditional “Día de Muertos” (Day of the Dead) celebrations.

We are ready… ¿y tú, México? 🇲🇽🏀@Softtek // #MFFL pic.twitter.com/8NQApmWOt1
— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) June 11, 2025

Arena CDMX will be decorated in line with local Día de Muertos traditions for the Mavs-Pistons showdown. Mavericks will be playing their eighth game in Mexico while Pistons will be facing their 9th game.

With the announcement of the overseas game, NBA has also pledged to conduct NBA Cares community outreach initiatives, WNBA youth and coach basketball development programming, and many more fan engagement activities. This move comes amid a concerning decline in NBA viewership across major markets in the U.S. and Canada.

NBA Ratings Crash Sparks Global Outreach

The regular season games this season have had fairly lower viewership. Arena attendance has also dropped significantly across the league throughout the 2024-25 regular season. Controversies regarding officiating has also worked it’s way around the decline of the league’s ratings.

Even the 2025 NBA Finals have registered record low viewership giving a huge blow to the league management. The Indiana Pacers and OKC Thunder have given thrilling performances but those performances haven’t translated into growth in the league’s media product.

The Thunder vs. Pacers Monday game recorded lowest figures for an NBA Finals game 2 since 2007. The OKC Thunder’s dominant performance only managed to attract an average viewership of 8.76 million on ABC. The San Antonio Spurs vs. Cleveland Cavaliers during the 2007 finals managed to draw an average of 8.55 million.

However, this excludes the Los Angeles Lakers vs. Miami Heat fixture during COVID-19 pandemic which drew only 7.54 million. Faced with falling viewership, the NBA has been forced to innovate and expand its global presence rapidly.

Dallas Mavericks

Detroit Pistons

Akash Vaishnav

nba

wnba

I cover NBA at the Playoffs. I specialize in covering breaking news, Previews, in in-depth analysis (breaking down numbers, complex stats, nuances of the game, and converting them into reader-friendly content). Furthermore, I got into the sports media while looking for an entry into the media industry. I love International Relations, and since entry without majoring in the subject was difficult, I got into sports. Now, while majoring in International Relations on one side, I also like covering sports as part of the journey as a young Journalist.