We’re seeing an increased interplay between pro soccer and pro baseball, and here’s another example: MountainStar Sports Group is launching a new team in Mexico’s second-division league, FC Juarez, with owners still looking for opportunities north of the border.
MountainStar Sports Group, of course, is the ownership group behind the successful El Paso Chihuahuas (Class AAA; Pacific Coast League), who earned some deserved recognition last season for the opening of Southwest University Park.
We have the full story on our sister site, Soccer Stadium Digest. The new team will play out of the Ascenso MX League, with Universidad Autonoma de Ciudad Juarez (shown above) serving as team home. MountainStar Sports Group’s Alejandra de la Vega Foster, who has an extensive background in pro soccer, will run the team.
And it doesn’t sound like FC Juarez will be the only soccer initiative from MountainStar Sports Group.
“We are still looking at every available option with professional soccer for the U.S. side of the Borderplex,” said Josh Hunt, CEO of MountainStar Sports Group. “And having a pro soccer club in Juarez can only help. This is exciting news for the entire region.
“We see this much in the same light as we did with the opportunity to bring Triple-A Baseball to El Paso,” Hunt said. “Our cornerstone objective was, and is, to improve the quality of life in the Borderplex and drive economic development. This is a natural extension of that mission.”
This is just one of many instances where pro baseball meets pro soccer. Most famously, the New York Yankees own a share of New York City FC, an expansion MLS franchise playing out of Yankee Stadium. Members of the Minnesota Twins ownership are part of the Minnesota United FC group awarded an MLS expansion franchise for 2018. The Tulsa Drillers (Class AA; Texas League) launched a USL Pro team, the Tulsa Roughnecks, playing out of ONEOK Field.