Luhnow now runs Cancún soccer club

Jeff Luhnow is back in sports.

Absent from public view for almost two years, the fired Astros general manager is now part owner of Cancún Football Club, a Mexican professional soccer team based in Cancún. The transaction became official this month after Mexican media reports first suggested it in January.

Luhnow’s official title is team president, according to a Cancún FC announcement. The team was acquired by Negocios en Fútbol Profesional, which counts Luhnow and Houston businessman Ben Guill as two of its biggest shareholders. Guill is a minority owner of the Houston Dynamo.

Both Guill and Luhnow are involved in Blue Crow Sports Group, a Houstonbased sports technology company that, according to its Linkedin page, “owns professional soccer teams across the globe. It also includes a soccerfocused data analytics business.” Luhnow is the company’s CEO, while Guill is the chairman of the board.

Luhnow, who was born in Mexico City, is a longtime soccer aficionado. He has become far more visible on social media since joining Cancún FC, advertising the team’s new logo and colors on Twitter.

The Astros fired Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch after Major League Baseball’s investigation into electronic sign-stealing during the 2017 and 2018 seasons.

Luhnow claimed to have no knowledge of the team’s trashcan banging scheme. He sought more than $20 million in a breach of contract lawsuit against the Astros in November 2020. The suit was dismissed in February 2021 after the two sides “resolved their differences.”