Mexican Baseball as a Space Creator: The Impact of the Upper Class on Sports

Abstract

Mexican professional baseball reveals the main features of the different stages and agents of that country’s economic and political system, as well as the relationships among the Mexican élites since 1940. This article identifies the Mexican economic élites who have used professional baseball to expand their influence. We also illustrate the existing relationships between the economic and political sectors through their expression in the “ball game”, as baseball is often called in Mexico, and the spatial consequences of these relationships. The article identifies the following “representatives” of the Mexican economically powerful sector: Jorge Pasquel, a businessman from the Mexican economic boom of the 1940’s and 50’s; Alejo Peralta, who was a telecommunications entrepreneur between 1950 and 1990; and Alfredo Harp Helú, one of the most important bankers in the country since 1990. These three businessmen have teamed up with political elites to achieve their goals, and baseball became their public face, despite challenges like the resistance and opposition they faced through the emergence of alternative leagues and the creation of a union. The headquarters of the teams exemplify the alliances between the economic and political elites because they show how different governments have supported the establishment of franchises for specific business sectors.