Rumors had been swirling that the National Arena League (formerly the Arena Development League) was looking to round out its 8-team league with a squad in Mexico.

Well that became official today, as the league announced on it’s Facebook page that a team will play in Monterrey, Mexico.

The team will be known as the Monterrey Steel, and I am assuming that that is their logo at the top, above the NAL logo.

From the NAL Facebook post announcing the move:

MONTERREY, MEXICO – At a press conference today, the ownership group of the Monterrey Steel announced their intentions to join the newly formed National Arena League for play in the 2017 season.
Monterrey, Mexico is home to over four million residents and the city is an anchor to the third-largest metropolitan area in the country. The Steel name comes from Monterrey being the center of the Mexican steel industry where the first steel mills opened in 1903. The team, Coached by Arena Veteran JA Anderson will play their home games inside the 17,000 seat Arena Monterrey.
“This is a historic day for the NAL as we truly become an international football league” stated Commissioner John Gregory. “Monterrey is rich in sports history and automatically becomes our league’s largest market. The addition of the Steel is just the first addition of what we hope are many franchises in Mexico in the coming years.”
“Arena football is now in Mexico in the wonderful city of Monterrey, stated Steel President Fernando Von Rossum. We are extremely excited to be part of the inaugural season of the NAL and cannot wait for our fans here in Monterrey to experience the fast-paced, high scoring, in-your-face style of football we are going to deliver to them. It will be like nothing they have ever experienced!”

The news comes not long after the NAL announced it had scooped up former the Arena Football League franchise, the Jacksonville Sharks.

Interestingly, the NAL will have two steel-themed teams with Monterrey and the Lehigh Valley Steelhawks.

So there you go, arena football is heading to Mexico. For more information on the team, including tickets, check out their website at http://www.monterreysteel.com.

The NAL will start its inaugural season in March of 2017 and will feature teams in Columbus, Georgia; Corpus Christi, Texas; Dayton, Ohio; Albany, Georgia; Boone, North Carolina; and Allentown, Pennsylvania in addition to Monterrey and Jacksonville.