Former Astros GM Jeff Luhnow Buys Soccer Club Leganes After Sign-Stealing Scandal

Spanish soccer club Leganes was just acquired by an investment group led by former Houston Astros GM Jeff Luhnow. The purchase comes just two years after Luhnow and then-Astros manager AJ Hinch were suspended, then subsequently fired, in the sign-stealing scandal.

Luhnow and his investment group Blue Crow Sports purchased the team from Victoria Pavon and Felipe Moreno for an undisclosed amount. Blue Crow is a group that contains investors from the United States, Mexico, El Salvador and Canada. The group recently purchased the Mexican club Cancun FC.

Leganes is a club based out of Southern Madrid in the Spanish League’s Second Division. They finished 12th in Spain’s Second Division this past season. The club was acquired in 2008 by Pavon and Moreno when it was in the third division and in debt. Since then, Leganes has reached the first division, La Liga, in 2016 and spent four seasons there before being relegated after the conclusion of the 2020 season. The club most notably beat Real Madrid on the way to the Copa Del Rey semifinals in 2018.

Luhnow says his plan as team president is to build the youth and women’s teams and push the club further forward technology-wise. “All sports have used technology to create advantages, and that is what we want to do. We have a group of people with experience including the Premier League and the MLS who know how to use technology, and Leganes can take advantage of that. Soccer is a bit behind other sports … but that is going to change in the coming years,” Luhnow said.

Luhnow noted that his purchase of Leganes was due to the belief that Spanish soccer has the greatest growth potential in Europe, especially due to the strict cost-control measures Spanish soccer employs and a recent investment deal with a private equity firm. “We will do all we can to improve this club,” Luhnow said.