Pacers Bringing Gold Out Tradition to Mexico City Game Against Nuggets

Gold Out T-shirts will be on seats throughout Arena CDMX on Saturday when the Indiana Pacers play the Denver Nuggets in Mexico City, the team announced Tuesday.

Joey Graziano, the executive vice president and chief commercial officer for Pacers Sports & Entertainment, told FOX59 the Gold Out is a way to put a Pacers tradition on an international stage.

“We want to start with incredible home field and home court energy at our game in Mexico City,” Graziano said. “Part of our job is to put as many fans as possible in those gold T-shirts because there’s recognition when you’re wearing gold, you’re rolling with us.”

Lucas Oil, whose logo is on the Pacers’ jersey patch, is the presenting partner. WWE, the lucha libre promotion AAA, and Cadillac’s Formula 1 team are also part of the week, which lines up with Día de Muertos.

Saturday is Indiana’s first regular-season game in Mexico. The Pacers are the 23rd franchise to play in the country.

The game will be the league’s 35th in Mexico since 1992. No country outside the United States and Canada has hosted more.

Tip-off is set for 5 p.m. ET, which is 4 p.m. in Mexico City, on NBA TV.

Denver played a preseason game in Monterrey in 2006, and Saturday will be its second game in Mexico. The Nuggets also beat the Pacers 140-112 in London on Jan. 12, 2017.

In January 2025, Indiana split two games with the San Antonio Spurs at Accor Arena in Paris. The Pacers lost 140-110 on Jan. 23 and won 136-98 two days later.

Indiana has lost five straight to fall to 2-6. The Nuggets have split their first six games.

The Pacers launched Quest for Gold around the Paris games. This year’s hunt began Sunday in Indianapolis, with daily clues through Tuesday, sponsored by Lucas Oil. It moves to Mexico City Thursday.

In both cities, the daily prize trail runs through a gold Pacers Volkswagen Beetle the team is using as a mobile vault. Autographed Pacers jerseys, game tickets, and exclusive merchandise are among the prizes. Anyone who registers at PacersInMexicoCity.com gets each clue before it goes up on the website or the Pacers’ social accounts.

On Halloween, the team turned a house in a popular trick-or-treating neighborhood in Indianapolis gold and handed out Pacers giveaways.

Gainbridge Fieldhouse held a Mexico City-themed night Nov. 2, also presented by Lucas Oil, and Indiana played only six players in a 108-104 loss to the Atlanta Hawks.

By the team’s count, roughly 16% of Marion County’s residents are now Latino.

Lucas Oil also backs Los Pacers, the team’s Spanish-language accounts on Facebook and Instagram. That support covers select Spanish-language content on Pacers.com, local Spanish-language broadcasts of 10 home games, and Math Hoops programming with students in Mexico City.

“Our hope is that it’s a meaningful first step, but it certainly won’t be our last commitment to what is an incredibly dynamic, inspirational and important segment of our community,” Graziano explained. “We really care about our fans and if you’re going to care about your fans, you care about all our fans.”

El Grande Americano, AAA’s Mega Champion, is part of the WWE collaboration. Pacers players and select WWE talent are getting a limited-edition T-shirt line that Jas Bell, the global design and product director for Pacers Sports & Entertainment, designed with WWE’s creative team.

A Pacers shop-in-shop at LUST, a sneaker and streetwear store in Mexico City, will carry exclusive WWE merchandise. The Pacers will also host a private event there with WWE talent and TKO executives. Another limited-edition merchandise release is planned for fans later this season.

Gainbridge Fieldhouse hosted WWE’s first Wrestlepalooza premium live event in 2025. The team is planning a WWE-themed game night in Indianapolis as well.

Tyrese Haliburton arrived for Indiana’s season opener in New Orleans on Oct. 21 wearing throwback HHH gear.

He is out with a mild left hamstring strain and is week-to-week. Haliburton played four games this season after missing all of 2025-26 with the torn Achilles tendon he suffered in Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals. As of Oct. 31, the team’s next update on him was due in about two weeks.

Cadillac made its Mexico City Grand Prix debut last weekend. Sergio “Checo” Pérez qualified second-to-last for what the team billed as his 300th Grand Prix start, ahead of only his teammate, Valtteri Bottas.

Four days before the race, Cadillac extended Pérez’s contract through 2029. The six-time Grand Prix winner had yet to score a point for the team.

The Pacers’ release describes Cadillac’s new team as making its home in Indianapolis. Their plans together include content built around Pérez’s milestone and a swap of a Pacers jersey for a racing helmet.

The trip also includes murals created with local Mexican artists. Bell designed artwork for a Pacers CDMX merchandise line inspired by the team, Mexican culture, and Día de Muertos. The team said some pieces sold out within hours.

Back home, the Pacers Foundation renovated the community court at Grassy Creek Park on the near east side and added Los Pacers branding. Pacers Sports & Entertainment has also scheduled a free screening of Disney Pixar’s Coco at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, a local watch party for Saturday’s game, and the return of Noche Éne Bé A, the team’s Hispanic and Latino heritage theme night.

FOX59 reported that Encanto Alebrije, a Mexican restaurant in downtown Indianapolis, will host a watch party starting at 4:30 p.m.

Wednesday night’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies in Memphis tips off at 8 p.m. ET. Two days after Mexico City, the Pacers visit the Dallas Mavericks at 8 p.m. ET.