From Houston to Cancun and Madrid, former Astros GM and Dynamo minority owner team up to invest in soccer

Another Houston based group has ventured off into European soccer and this one has close ties to MLB's Astros and MLS' Dynamo FC. If it has its way, it could be rising in Mexican soccer as well.

Blue Crow Sports Group, led by former Astros General Manager Jeff Luhnow, acquired 99.1% of the shares of La Liga 2 club C.D. Leganés. The official announcement out of Spain was made last Thursday as the team bid farewell to owners Victoria Pavón and Felipe Moreno and the former baseball executive was presented as the new president.

"I am representing a group of very serious people who are in love with sports and what we want here at Leganés is to make it grow," Luhnow said. "I come with a lot of desire to learn from you and to add what we can. My group comes from all over the world. We are Americans, Mexicans, Salvadorans, Nicaraguans, Canadians, Indians. We are from all over the world but we are united by a love of sports, a love of making things grow and a love of winning, frankly."

Luhnow, a Mexican-born engineer whose parents hail from New York, pointed to his twenty years of experience in sports. He spent nine seasons as a Vice President with MLB's St. Louis Cardinals and helped build a team that won a World Series title in 2011 and, after his departure, in 2013.

He was appointed as the Astros GM on December 8, 2011, and oversaw a team that went on to win two American League pennants and its first World Series trophy. Known for his adaptation of technology, Luhnow intends to translate the strategies that led him to success in baseball over to soccer.

"We are going to use technology. There is a lot of technology that is entering football I think we have an attitude that it can help," said Luhnow. "We have a group already assembled, together for the last year, who have experience in various leagues including the Premier League, MLS, Italy, other parts, who already know more or less what technologies are available and what we can develop internally to create an advantage for Leganés."

Luhnow was issued a season-long suspension by MLB in 2020 due to the Astros sign-stealing scandal and was later fired by the Houston ball club. That was his last job in baseball and, shortly after, he began to be linked with investment into several soccer clubs.

FOX 26 Houston Sports Director Mark Berman reported interest of investment into the Houston Dynamo by Luhnow and former baseball star Alex Rodriguez in late 2020. The Athletic reported in January 2021 that Luhnow was working with the creators of the Netflix show Club de Cuervos, a satire soccer series similar to Apple TV's Ted Lasso, to buy a Mexican club. 

Last year, ESPN Mexico reported Luhnow's interest to invest in Atletico de San Luis but the club was retained by its La Liga owners Atletico de Madrid. FOX Deportes' Raúl Orvañanos added that Houston Dynamo and Dash minority owner Ben Guill partnered with Luhnow for the potential San Luis purchase.

"The reason we are in sports is not because it is a job. It's because we like to win. I personally have had that experience several times," Lunhow told media in Spain about the Blue Crow Sports Group. "I do promise you that we're going to make a big effort to continue to improve everything that this club is. Our group has executives from various sports from football, baseball, basketball, Formula 1, e-sports, and hopefully we can add a little bit of the things that work in those sports."

Guill serves on the Board of Directors of the investment group, according to its website. The group was formed in 2021 and completed the purchase of Mexican second division club Cancun FC earlier this month. Promotion and relegation has been paused in Mexican soccer, so Cancun is unable to make a jump from the Liga de Expansión MX to Liga MX.

The long game in Mexico is to build and be patient for if and when the first division reopens for expansion. In Spain, Leganés will have to play under the economic restrictions of the second division but could earn promotion to La Liga as soon as this season, a payoff that will put the club back along the likes of Real Madrid, F.C. Barcelona and the dream of playing in the UEFA Champions League.

"We have to keep in mind the limits of the league, of economic control, but we have resources to invest and we want to start the season in a very positive way," Lunhow said in an exclusive with the club's YouTube channel. "We have to start with success in competition, success in winning games and hopefully compete for promotion."

The 2022-23 La Liga 2 season kicks off on August 13 as Leganés hosts Deportivo Alavés. The Pepineros are hopeful to return to Spain's first division by qualifying directly as first or second in the standings or winning the promotion playoffs.

Cancun FC began the Apertura 2022 season with a 2-1 win at Pumas Tabasco. The club will play its first home match on July 5 against Raya2 at the Andrés Quintana Roo Olympic Stadium, the team's home ground.

"We are extremely proud to become the new administrators of Cancún FC. This is a world-class destination, and we look forward to working with the people of the Cancun and Riviera Maya communities to build a club that the entire community can be proud of," Luhnow said through a club statement. "We will install a winning philosophy in all areas of the club, establish a clear purpose and help provide leadership that allows the club to progress in Mexican soccer."

Luhnow and Guill's group is only the latest investment group with Houston ties to venture abroad. The Friedkin Group completed a majority acquisition of Serie A club Roma for a reported $700 million in August 2020.

Former Dynamo minority owner Jake Silverstein was part of a deal to acquire British club Swansea City, with hopes of going from the EFL Championship to the Premier League. The Trivela Group, of whom former Dynamo GM Matt Jordan serves as VP of Global Football, also ventured into English football recently by purchasing EFL League Two side Walsal F.C.