Will Carlos Slim Revolutionize Mexican Soccer? Tom Marshall - Soccer365.com
go to original September 12, 2012

The announcement last month that Carlos Slim´s America Movil would be buying a 30 percent share in Grupo Pachuca – which owns both Pachuca and Leon – caused anyone involved in the Mexican game to take a sharp intake of breath.

It is the natural reaction when the world´s richest person, according to Forbes magazine, invests in any new industry for the first time, simply because common sense suggests his 69 billion dollar fortune has the potential to shake that industry to the core. But will Pachuca and Leon become the kind of clubs that snag world stars with the promise of riches, like Anzhi in Russia or Shanghai Shenhua in China?

The answer is probably not, but the fact Pumas fan Slim is now involved – for a long time it was the elephant in the room in the Mexican game – does leave the intriguing possibility hanging.

More likely, however, is that Slim invested in Leon and Pachuca to help break the dominance of adversaries Televisa and TV Azteca and try to etch out his own piece of the pie in Mexico´s TV market.

In the press conference to detail the 30 percent investment, it was announced that Leon´s games would be shown via Fox Sports in Mexico and Telemundo in the United States. In essence the deal broke the gentlemen´s agreement between the clubs and the two big TV companies in Mexico.

Slim´s end goal is to be granted rights to provide either free or pay TV in Mexico, but TV Azteca and Televisa are naturally hostile to such a competitor. Slim, in retaliation for concessions not being granted, stopped his companies advertising with Televisa and TV Azteca at the beginning of 2011, causing a loss of earnings of around 75 million dollars for Televisa alone. It now seems Slim is using soccer to further attack the big two TV companies.

El Economista succinctly summed up Slim entering the football world with the headline: “Slim opens another front in the battle against Televisa and TV Azteca.”

It is deeply concerning for TV Azteca and Televisa. A potential Pandora´s Box could now open up. Pachuca´s contract with TV Azteca runs out next year and there is no reason to think that the club won´t put together a similar package as sister club Leon, which earned it much more than TV Azteca were offering, according to reports.

Monterrey, Chivas and Atlante have all reportedly had problems with their deals before and have threatened to look elsewhere. Now Leon has broken the trend and the precedent has been set.

But what about the fans of Leon and Pachuca? What can they now expect?

Slim will likely invest in the teams. The better the teams do, the more people will want to watch them and the better the rewards from future TV deals will be. Already Pachuca has Hugo Sanchez as coach and invested heavily in its playing squad over the summer. But the fact Slim is extremely rational in his investments and doesn´t tend to revel in the limelight suggests it will be strategic purchases of players when and where necessary, not the crazy spending of Anzhi et al.

It is also worth pointing out that although Slim´s fortune is gigantic and his purchase is making waves right now, it´s not the first time a major investor has entered the Mexican game.

Ironically, the precedent was Televisa (then known as Telesistema), which bought Club America in 1959. The president of the company, Emilio Azcarraga, admitted knowing little about the game, but wanted to help bring the 1970 World Cup to Mexico and thought being on the inside gave him great leverage in doing that. The effect on the game was huge. America spent large amounts of money on new players from South America, won the league in 1965-66, dominated the 1980s and today is one of Mexico´s two best supported clubs.

The rationale behind Slim´s stake in Leon and Pachuca is similar: he is now in position and able to influence events in the game, especially in terms of TV rights. It is comparable to his position in Formula 1, where he has financially backed the career of Guadalajara´s Sergio Perez since the driver was 14 and is now a major sponsor and partner of the Sauber team. Even in that sport, however, there are periodical rumors that Slim will buy a team or even the whole sport.

The same rumors are now likely to occur in fútbol, too, and how it all plays out should make for fascinating viewing.

Tom Marshall: @MexicoWorldCup

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