Televisa is near to purchase San Jose Earthquakes

Grupo Televisa, the company that owns Mexican First Division team Club America, is finalizing arrangements to purchase Major League Soccer’s San Jose Earthquakes from the Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) and move the franchise to Houston, Texas. The Earthquakes will play in the Astrodome, previously home to the Houston Astros baseball team, until a soccer specific stadium is built.

A similar facility to the one currently being constructed in Dallas is under consideration, possibly using land owned by the Houston Independent School District. Grupo Televisa officials have been involved in the discussions to date. The Astrodome, which underwent US$60 million of renovations in 1989, has barely been used since the Astros moved out five years ago. However, the deal underlines a more significant relationship between the two companies as Grupo Televisa own the Spanish language rights to the FIFA World Cup in 2006 while AEG own the English language rights through Soccer United Marketing, the marketing division of the MLS. The two parties are discussing various coverage options of the event including both over-the-air and pay-per-view broadcasts of the games in the United States. Grupo Televisa is the leading producer of Spanish language programming, much of which airs on Univision, and has ambitious plans to dominate the market in the US.