Cowboys legend Emmitt Smith will play a unique role in growing Mexico’s professional football
Mexico is already waiting for the Dallas Cowboys legend’s visit later in 2026.
When Emmitt Smith is coming to town, football fans pay attention. But if you live in Chihuahua, Mexico—which is a three hour drive away from El Paso, Texas—it seems unlikely Smith is ever going to stop by. Until now.
It turns out the Dallas Cowboys icon and NFL all-time leading rusher is set to pay a visit to Mexico as part of the Chihuahua Caudillos’ efforts to promote its games and the LFA—Mexico’s professional football league, which recently received a $100 million+ investment from Global Sports Capital.
Smith’s visit is huge
Caudillos owner Jorge Ginther announced Emmitt Smith will visit Chihuahua to promote one of its games. Like the Cowboys in the NFL, the Caudillos have become one of the most famous franchises in the LFA due to their marketing efforts and the fact that they were back-to-back undefeated champions in 2023-2024.
Bringing Smith in is yet another example of their ability to make noise. Ginther broke the news last week in Chihuahua’s radio show Antena Deportiva.
“Speaking to (Global Sports Capital founder Michael MacDougall), I told him it was important for an NFL great to visit us,” Ginther said. “(Later,) he texted me a screenshot of him video calling Smith saying, ‘he’ll go to Chihuahua.”
Ginther reaffirmed the news in a later press conference on Tuesday.
Though the LFA is growing in Mexico, it’s still a young league with a small fanbase relative to the NFL. However, there is no shortage of football fans in Chihuahua. And one of the largest fanbases in the city, as is the case for the rest of Mexico, is the Dallas Cowboys’.
To have Smith stop by for a game is guaranteed to get the attention of fans all across Mexico, and it’s a surefire bet it will help grow the league.
Though there’s no set date for the Cowboys legend’s visit. The Caudillos will have at least three home games in 2026 starting in April, which is a transition year for the league for many reasons including the recent investment from GSCP—which follows a previous purchase of one of the franchises, the Monterrey Osos, by a group of investors including NFL players George Kittle, Christian McCaffrey, former All-Pro center Ryan Kalil, and others.
What is the LFA?
The LFA, Liga de Fútbol Americano, is a professional football league founded in 2016. It’s gone through some ups and downs and just like the NFL did in its early days, some teams have come and gone. The recent investment should provide much-needed financial stability moving forward, and there are big hopes for it to keep growing.
“This is more than an investment in a league,” MacDougall said in November of last year. “It’s an investment in the future of México and in the growth of American football as a global game. We founded GSCP to unlock unique value in undervalued sports assets, while ensuring the positive cultural impact of any sport we touch is felt at the grassroots level.
The LFA has all the right ingredients: a huge base of incredible fans, committed local ownership and big ambitions to grow. I want to thank the LFA’s franchise owners for sharing our vision and coming together to make this transformative deal possible. We look forward to providing long-term capital, hands-on operational capability and a powerful network to take the LFA to the next level.”
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