Ex-Astros GM Who Left Baseball for Soccer Eyes Europe Expansion

(Bloomberg) -- Jeff Luhnow, who was fired as general manager of the Houston Astros amid a sign-stealing scandal, is looking to build further on his shift from baseball to soccer. 

Luhnow’s Blue Crow Sports Group already controls soccer clubs in Mexico, Spain and France, where it has first-division team Le Havre AC. The company is now weighing an expansion of its investments in Europe. 

“We’re looking at Central and Eastern Europe for one more club in the near future,” Luhnow said in an interview Monday, without providing additional details.

Luhnow, once heralded as one of the sharpest executives in Major League Baseball, branched into soccer after his stint with the Astros came to an abrupt end in 2020 because of the scandal, in which he denied wrongdoing. He co-founded Blue Crow in Houston in 2021, in part with backing from people he’d known in baseball. 

“Many of the investors in Blue Crow are people that were either investors in the Astros or knew me from that time,” he said. “And they’re all very bullish on what we’re building.”

At the heart of Luhnow’s vision for Blue Crow is an emphasis on data analytics, the use of which he said is less widespread in soccer than in sports such as baseball and basketball. The goal is to keep a lid on operating losses while building more valuable franchises and making money by selling the rights to players who have caught the eye of wealthier clubs. 

In the broader soccer world, the multi-club ownership model has often faltered in recent years. For example, 777 Partners has faced financial turmoil, lawsuits, and the collapse of its Everton FC bid, while Eagle Football has run into regulatory roadblocks and scrutiny over debt at French football club Olympique Lyonnais.

Luhnow co-founded Blue Crow with Chief Strategy Officer Arvind Narayan. While they haven’t publicly revealed a comprehensive list of investors, backers include former baseball star Alex Rodriguez. 

In addition to the Le Havre team in France, Blue Crow also holds Mexico’s Cancun Futbol Club and Spain’s Club Deportivo Leganes. 

--With assistance from Julie Fine and Giles Turner.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

©2025 Bloomberg L.P.