Ryan Kalil, the two-time All-Pro center for the Carolina Panthers, has harbored a passion for filmmaking since he started making stop-motion videos as a child. While still active and protecting star quarterback Cam Newton, Kalil created Mortal Media in 2016 with his longtime friend, NBA All-Star Blake Griffin. The 14-year NBA veteran’s own dalliance with the arts includes appearances in commercials and TV shows, as well as a successful venture into stand-up comedy.
With their playing careers behind them, Kalil and Griffin turned full-time toward their budding careers as media executives. Their passions are now combined into a project modeled after the success of Welsh soccer club Wrexham and its celebrity American owners.
Griffin and Kalil partnered to buy the professional football team in Monterrey, Mexico, formerly known as the Fundidores de Monterrey — a partnership announced in January. The two investors will also produce a documentary chronicling their foray into sports ownership, as well as the lives and careers of the players of the newly named Osos de Monterrey of Mexico’s pro football league, the Liga de Fútbol Americano Profesional (LFA).
Joining as investors are names familiar to most American sports fans. Christian McCaffrey and George Kittle of the San Francisco 49ers, plus Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold, round out the group of active NFL stars. Former Panthers Luke Kuechly, Greg Olsen, Julius Peppers, Ron Rivera and Jonathan Stewart are also involved, among others.
The NFL counts over 46 million fans in Mexico alone. The northern city of Monterrey, home of the Osos, boasts a population of over five million people and is located at just under a three-hour drive from the U.S. border. It has long been a hotbed for football, with fans flocking to see powerhouse Monterrey Tech dominate Mexican college football for decades.
“It’s been a really exciting opportunity to see how the city responds to [pro] football,” Kalil told ESPN. “I think there’s a huge opportunity for us to really build a fan base that is consistent and excited about us being involved, but also getting excited about the LFA.”
The LFA will hold its annual draft Saturday in Mexico City. Kalil plans to be there, helping to shepherd the Osos toward their inaugural season that begins in May.
Griffin is familiar with the potential of fans in Mexico. His Detroit Pistons played a regular-season NBA game in Mexico City against the Dallas Mavericks in 2019. Before tipoff, Griffin and former Mavs star Luka Doncic addressed the sellout crowd together. Doncic, a star at Real Madrid in Spain before coming to the NBA, wowed the arena in perfect Spanish. Griffin offered a “Hola, Mexico” before giving the rest of his speech in English.
“I knew [Luka’s] Spanish was pretty good,” Griffin said. “I had this whole thing memorized. And as soon as he started talking, I was like, ‘Oh, this was a mistake.’ And so, I just scrapped it.” Future Osos home games at the Estadio Banorte will offer Griffin multiple opportunities to brush up on his Spanish. However, sports fans in Mexico might become used to their favorite team’s owners coming from the U.S. and elsewhere by the time he is fluent.
In 2021, a group consisting of American businessmen Al Tylis and Sam Porter teamed with American actress, producer and businesswoman Eva Longoria and former Germany midfielder Mesut Ozil — a star for several top European clubs — to purchase a stake in Liga MX’s Necaxa franchise. They were joined by three-time Cy Young winner Justin Verlander, model Kate Upton and former NBA star Shawn Marion, among others.
Added to the mix last year were American actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, who famously produced “Welcome to Wrexham,” a documentary focusing on their co-ownership of the Welsh soccer club. Reynolds and McElhenney are planning to shoot a similar show based off their involvement with Necaxa.
For the Osos group, the hope is their documentary will not only serve as an introduction to pro football outside the United States, but perhaps even as a launching pad for some of their players. The team’s most recently updated 50-man roster lists 20 players who played college football at the NCAA level. Kalil says he’s already heard from NFL position coaches asking for player recommendations and especially on the offensive line, where he thrived for 13 seasons.
“These are journeymen who, for whatever reason, haven’t gotten their shot. They’re incredibly talented,” Kalil said. “One of the things that drew us to the LFA was that this is quality football. [It’s] very comparable to some of the other spring leagues around the world.”
The ultimate goal for for Griffin, who played youth football growing up in Oklahoma before focusing on basketball, is simply to help his team and its players in any way he can.
“For me, it’s about being additive in any way possible,” Griffin said. “As athletes, we all know that the struggle of trying to get to the place that you want to get to, they all play for the love of the game.”
Griffin would eventually like to nudge his business partners into basketball in Mexico, if possible. The NBA G League’s Mexico City Capitanes previously played in the Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional, a 16-team pro league whose most successful club, Fuerza Regia, is based in Monterrey.
For now, Kalil and Griffin are focused on Osos and the club’s women’s flag football counterpart. Mexico’s flag football program among the most successful globally, with their national team dominating the U.S. en route to a championship at the 2022 World Games. The team’s quarterback, Diana Flores, has been a visible ambassador for the sport, having been featured in a Super Bowl halftime commercial in 2023.
“We’re also going to be doing flag on the women’s side,” Kalil said. “There’s a really big opportunity there, and that’s a big deal not just in Monterrey, but in all of Mexico. We’re excited to look at all facets of this and really figure out a way that we can involve the community.”
In a country long known for its embrace of the NFL, the Osos’ new ownership group will now set its sights not only on winning hearts, minds and championships, but perhaps also continuing to break ground on an opportunity to grow football outside its usual borders.
“I hope it could be the beginning of more and more people getting involved,” Griffin said. “And, you know, truly making it a little bit more international.”