Television stations, breweries, bookmakers and even a brand of rabies vaccines make up the range of companies that own the 18 Liga MX teams. This hodgepodge has been built as a result of the franchise sales that characterize Mexican soccer each season.
The strongest companies are also those that show the best performance on the court. Femsa and Cemex, with ownership percentages in Monterrey and Tigres, respectively, entered more than 750 million pesos in sales during 2020 (according to Expansión figures), and their teams have been the last two representatives of Concacaf in the World Cup. of FIFA Clubs.
The relationship between these consortia and the royal clubs is no more than 30 years old, like other Mexican soccer teams such as Pachuca and León with Jesús Martínez Patiño, Chivas with the Vergara family or Santos and Atlas with Alejandro Irarragorri; Exceptions such as América, Cruz Azul and Toluca are those that maintain an old directive.
El Economista presents an analysis of who the owners of Liga MX are, the power of the companies with which they are related and even their interference in roles outside of football such as politics and business.
Owners: inheritances, politics and reputation
Valentín Diez owns Toluca as an inheritance from his father, Nemesio Diez, a Spaniard who came to Mexico at the age of 13 and who acquired the club in 1959 “at the request” of the then President of the Republic, Adolfo López Mateos.
“A delicate situation arose, that the group of owners had all disappeared and then (López Mateos) asked (Nemesio Diez) ‘I want you to take charge of the team,’ and my father took the responsibility,” said Valentín to Mediotiempo on the club’s centenary, in 2017.
It is not the only political link. According to the book The Great Assembly, by the journalist Jenaro Villamil (Proceso), in 2008 Enrique Peña Nieto, who would be a candidate for the presidency in 2012, received mentions in sports programs taking advantage of the ninth Toluca championship, which the author describes as a ‘secret’ exposure strategy.
“These appearances were not included in the monitoring provided by Grupo Televisa to the TEPJF (Electoral Tribunal of the Federal Judicial Branch). That is precisely the secret of the agreement between the brokers of the Azcárraga Jean company (Televisa) and the peñismo: to carry out an intense promotion that is not limited to the informational or analytical field, but incorporates the ingredients of advertainment (advertising plus entertainment) plus the special advice in all the handling of his speech, his image and his government management ”, mentions Villamil.
Currently there are two cases of owners with current political ties: Alejandra De la Vega, owner of the Bravos de Juárez, who on January 25, 2021 took a protest as the new representative of the governor of Chihuahua, Javier Corral Jurado, in Ciudad Juárez, as well as executive deputy cabinet coordinator in the North Zone of said state.
Before that, De la Vega served as Chihuahua’s secretary of Innovation and Economic Development (SIDE), which is why she is not registered as president of the club; that position is assumed by Guillermo Cantú, former director of the Mexican National Team. Article 7 of the ethics regulations of the Mexican Soccer Federation (FMF) states that “everyone who is subject to the application of this code (including club managers) must maintain a neutral position on matters of a religious and political nature. ”.
The other case is that of Jorge Hank Rhon, owner of the Tijuana Xolos and who will compete for the governorship of Baja California in June this year for the Encuentro Solidario Party (PES). According to journalist Jesusa Cervantes (Proceso), Hank has received accusations for issues such as money laundering and trafficking in endangered species, although none have been proven; he was even arrested in 2011 for possession of firearms.
One more manager of the MX League is involved in the scandal in 2021. Guillermo Álvarez Cuevas, who served as president of the Cruz Azul Cooperative from 1988 to 2020, has been a fugitive from justice since July due to accusations of organized crime and operations with resources of illicit origin, in addition to tax evasions of the last seven years.
Since August, Interpol and the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) issued a red card in 195 countries to apprehend him, since the destination of more than 400 million pesos during his tenure has not been clarified. Another 10 characters linked to Cruz Azul, among them his sons Robin and Jorge, are also singled out by the courts.
Business values reflected in sports success
According to the ranking of companies and leaders with the best reputation in Mexico (Forbes, 2020), Femsa, Cemex, BBVA and Televisa are the number of their respective categories: conglomerates, construction materials, finance and the media. These brands are the economic sustenance of Rayados, Tigres and América.
These three clubs have won 60% of the last 10 Liga MX championships and 70% of Concacaf titles since 2011. In business matters during 2020, Femsa, Cemex and Televisa received 859 million pesos from sales, placing them within the 50 companies with the highest income in the country, according to the annual ranking of Expansión CNN.
In the category of managers best evaluated in 2020, by Forbes (in a methodology that included 691 business experts and 3,027 citizens), Femsa and Televisa also stood out in the Top 10: José Antonio Fernández Carbajal in position 3 and Emilio Azcárraga Jean in the number nine, respectively.
Two other sportingly prominent business groups in recent years are Grupo Pachuca and Orlegi, owners of Tuzos, León, Santos and Atlas. These clubs have won 6 of the last 15 league titles since 2013; Chivas, Tijuana and Pumas are the only teams that do not belong to these business groups (neither Femsa, Cemex nor Televisa) that have been champions in the last decade.
Orlegi entered Mexican soccer in 2013, the same year that Grupo Modelo was sold to Spanish group InBev for $ 20 billion. Thus, the organization headed by Alejandro Irarragorri acquired the Santos Laguna club and the facilities of the Santos Modelo Territory; In 2016 they acquired Second Division Tampico Madero and in 2019 Atlas. In addition to sports, Orlegi has businesses in the agribusiness, real estate and insurance industries.
The company that does not have sporting achievements commensurate with its income is Grupo Salinas, owned by Ricardo Salinas Pliego. In 2020, it was the third group that most entered by sales only below Femsa and Cemex (147.9 million pesos), but throughout this century, its teams have only won one league and one cup (both for Monarcas Morelia). Neither Atlas, Jaguares nor Mazatlán, clubs that have been owned by Salinas Pliego, have added to the record.
