Football
Eric Gomez, Mexico writer 7y

How Xolos built a soccer empire in baseball country Tijuana in 10 years

TIJUANA, Mexico -- It's the middle of rush hour. Thousands are jointly making the trek back home after a full day of work. Even at a population of under two million, the city is still a lightweight when it comes to traffic. A few horns are honked when commuters aren't moving quickly enough and a cacophony of drivers' sound systems weaves together so you can simultaneously hear 10 songs at once and none at all.

In front of the gorgeous streaks of orange and red staging the sunset, a large, anthropomorphic dog is pointing down at drivers passing by the Estadio Caliente on Boulevard Agua Caliente. His very presence, casually towering over a state-of-the-art stadium for a championship team in a city still thought to be a refuge for excess than say, fine dining, emerging real estate and yes, soccer, should still be considered amazing.

And as late as 10 years ago (the club celebrates its 10th birthday this week), it was still a mere fantasy.

Before Xolos, the very existence of a top-division soccer team in Tijuana was an unlikely idea. "During the team's first season, we were handing out free tickets at different locations," says Manuel Medina, a journalist who served as the team's press officer in 2007. "I handed this guy a couple of tickets, he looked at them and threw them back at me." The fan told Medina that he wasn't interested in soccer and neither was the rest of the city.

Not many people would have disagreed with his assessment. At the time, it was much more common to see locals sporting NFL, MLB or NBA apparel before donning Liga MX jerseys. Geographically speaking, Tijuana the city is the farthest possible distance from Mexico City in the entire country -- over 1700 miles driving -- a fact many are sheepishly proud of. 

But to Jorgealberto Hank, Xolos' founder and owner, soccer in Tijuana was less of an "if" and more of a "when," despite the myriad of failed teams the city's had accrued over time.

"When we started [in the second division], fandom grew little by little," said Hank in a 2013 interview with TVC Deportes. "We built the stadium and people saw that this project was serious."

Ultimately, as Hank notes, the construction of Estadio Caliente was a driving factor for the side's growth and eventual success. Up until then, no venue had been built specifically for the sport in the city, and existing stadiums were not equipped to deal with the rigors of a pro team.

"I remember one day we were having lunch and someone asked the staff if we'd like to check the stadium's progress," says Medina. "We showed up at the construction site and I saw a massive hole and workers starting to lay groundwork. I realized at that moment this thing was for real."

The stadium, the lynchpin of the team's commitment to the city, also became a symbol for Tijuana's rehabbing image. Once a pariah due to the waves of violence brought on by the country's continuing war on drugs, the city was again attracting tourists drawn to the burgeoning food scene, cheap cultural attractions and yes, the exciting soccer team making waves.

Within four years of the team's founding date, it gained promotion to the country's top division, Liga MX, by beating Irapuato in a thrilling final. And 18 months after its first foray at the top of Mexico's soccer pyramid, it claimed a league title.

"There's no better feeling than your first title," says Greg Garza, the Atlanta United full-back and United States international who first debuted with Tijuana in 2012. "Since [we won it], I walk down the street and the first thing people will greet me with is talking about the championship."

A willingness to spend big and attract top talent meant more success, with Club Tijuana reaching the quarterfinals of the prestigious Copa Libertadores tournament in 2014. Aside from hiring big names both on and off the pitch (in their short history, Xolos have spent big on managers like Argentina's Antonio Mohamed, Venezuela's Cesar Farias and Mexico's Miguel Herrera), the team pioneered a strategy now prevalent in the rest of the league: mining the U.S. for Mexican-American talent.

The championship team in 2012 featured Garza, a Texas native, along with New Mexico-born Edgar Castillo at the full-back positions. Los Angeles' Joe Corona, who scored the team's first-ever goal in Liga MX, was a part of the midfield. Since then, the club has signed established American national team players such as Herculez Gomez and Michael Orozco, while also developing prospects like Corona, Garza and Paul Arriola, sometimes using unconventional methods to get their attention. "The team's scout contacted me the first time on Facebook," Arriola recalls.

Recruited away from the Los Angeles Galaxy, Arriola signed after being spotted in the 2011 FIFA U17 World Cup. "I didn't know anything about the team before then, but then Stevie [Rodriguez] and [Alejandro] Guido signed there too," he continues. Today, Arriola is one of eight Americans on Xolos' first-team roster, a move meant to benefit the team on the field and make it more attractive to fans on the American side of the border.

With no Major League Soccer team currently in San Diego, Xolos have been able to attract a large swath of fans not only there, but increasingly across the United States.

"I've been to San Francisco a couple of times and seen [the team's logo] on cars in the city. It's a cool feeling," says Garza.

Other American influences abound within the team's structure and image. Bud Light is the official beer sponsor, a sacrilege of sorts in the rest of the country, but a mere reflection of Xolos' bicultural and binational nature. The side is also one of a handful of Mexican clubs to serve English-language fans with news and social media content. Those strategies, meant to grow and maintain the passion of fans on both sides of the border, have never been more crucial.

After a prolonged absence from the Liga MX playoffs, Xolos have only just recently returned to the spotlight under Herrera, who last season led the team to a first-place regular season finish. Even with a strong base of players and an experienced manager, it has arguably never been as difficult to win in Tijuana.

Rule changes permitting more foreign signings have resulted in better players flooding the league, with a few teams supported in this quest by bloated transfer budgets. Others, not willing to shell out on big stars, have caught on to Xolos' Moneyball-esque approach to signing players in the American market. If rumors prove true, the team will also face competition within its market from a future MLS franchise playing across the border in San Diego, potentially affecting earnings. "[To keep that fan base] we have to do more," says Arriola.

Even then, Xolos are already, undoubtedly, a success story. In just 10 years, Club Tijuana has not only achieved great success on the pitch, it's provided a blueprint for others to copy while aiding and abetting the rebirth of the city it calls home.

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