MISL blazes a trail into Mexico

The Major Indoor Soccer League says it's going where no major professional U.S. sports league has gone before by putting an expansion team south of the border in Monterrey, Mexico.

Securing a team in Monterrey, Mexico's third-largest city, is "part of a business strategy to grow the league to be a major player throughout North America," said MISL Commissioner Steve Ryan.

MISL also has franchises in Philadelphia, Baltimore, Cleveland, Dallas, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Kansas City, San Diego and Harrisburg, Pa.

The lead investor/operator of the Monterrey team is Monterrey businessman Alvaro Ordoñez Peña. Fellow investor Guillermo Salinas Pliego has ownership interest in TV Azteca Noreste, a portion of the nationwide TV Azteca network. "That gives us an opportunity to align ourselves with a major player in television in Mexico," Ryan said.

Ryan declined to disclose the expansion fee.

The Monterrey team, whose nickname and logo will be introduced later this month, will begin play in the 2003-04 season, which kicks off Oct. 4. The franchise will play its home games in the Monterrey Arena, a 17,000-seat facility that's slated to open in November.

— Langdon Brockinton