The National Basketball Association (NBA) has officially announced a significant international fixture for its upcoming 2025/26 regular season: the Dallas Mavericks will face the Detroit Pistons in Mexico City on November 1, 2025. This eagerly anticipated game, confirmed via a press release from the league, will be hosted at the modern Mexico City Arena, also known by its local designation, Arena CDMX. This event underscores the NBA's ongoing commitment to showcasing its premier basketball talent to a global audience and strengthening its presence in key international markets like Mexico.

A culturally significant aspect of this scheduling is that it marks the second consecutive year the NBA's annual Mexico City game will coincide with the vibrant local Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebrations. This thoughtful alignment allows fans to experience both world-class basketball and a unique cultural event. The precedent for this was set during the 2024/25 season when the Miami Heat and the Washington Wizards played in Mexico on November 2, an event that successfully merged the sporting spectacle with the traditional festivities.

The selection of Mexico City as a host venue is part of a long-standing relationship between the NBA and Mexico. The upcoming Mavericks versus Pistons contest will be the 34th game, encompassing both preseason exhibitions and regular season clashes, that the NBA has staged in Mexico since its first venture there in 1992. For the Dallas Mavericks, this game will represent their eighth participation in such an event south of the border, indicating a familiar presence for the team among Mexican basketball enthusiasts. The NBA has maintained a consistent schedule of playing at least one regular season game in Mexico City every year since 2017, with the only exceptions being 2020 and 2021, when games were paused due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.

This announcement carries further weight as the Mavericks-Pistons game is the first regular season matchup for the 2025/26 NBA season to be officially scheduled outside of the United States or Canada. While this regular season game is a major highlight, the league had previously unveiled a robust lineup of international preseason games slated for the fall of 2025. This preseason tour includes several high-profile encounters: the New York Knicks and the Philadelphia 76ers are set to compete in Abu Dhabi on October 2 and October 4; the New Orleans Pelicans will travel to Melbourne, Australia, to face teams from the National Basketball League (NBL) on October 3 and October 5; and finally, the Brooklyn Nets and the Phoenix Suns will play games in Macao on October 10 and October 12.

Collectively, these international engagements, from the regular season game in Mexico City to the various preseason tours across different continents, clearly demonstrate the NBA's strategic vision. The league is actively working to expand its global footprint, cultivate its international fanbase, and promote the sport of basketball on a worldwide scale. The continued presence in Mexico City, a key market, and the expansion into other regions are testaments to this long-term global growth strategy.