San Diego Padres, El Paso Chihuahuas talk about becoming bi-national teams
Representatives from the San Diego Padres and El Paso Chihuahuas met Thursday, but the topic wasn’t baseball, it was business.
Both the Padres and the Chihuahua play in border cities. The discussion centered around using baseball to unify the regions and create bi-national teams.
“We came out of this meeting with some great ideas,” said Richard Dayoub, President and CEO of the Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce.
They are looking for ideas to support the dream of having Mexicans cheering on American based baseball teams. The San Diego Padres neighbor Tijuana, the Chihuahuas neighbor Juarez.
“The El Paso Chihuahuas are such a great fit for us as our top minor league partner,” said Tom Seidler, Senior Vice President, Community & Military Affairs, San Diego Padres. “Downtown stadiums, border towns trying to figure out how to successfully be a bi-national team. So we going to steal the best ideas from each other.”
Seidler said first off, get loyal fans in Mexico via marketing, community outreach, getting games on Mexican television and radio, getting fans to cross the border to attend games. Both teams eventually want to play games in their sister city, building on a following that will grow business.
“I think one of the best questions, really that was asked was– which really gets your mind going– is looking back 10 years from now, where do you want to be and what do you want to see, 10 years looking back in 2026?” asked Mayor Oscar Leeser.
Leeser said he wants baseball to bring a higher quality of life for region, not just the El Paso. He days bi-national baseball teams can be the unifying force border economies need, and both El Paso and San Diego is prepared to go to Washington asking commerce be allowed to flow freely.
“I want to look back and have everybody internationally look at us as an asset, and I think we can do that,” said Paul Foster, Executive Chairman, Western Refining, and MountainStar Sports Group, co-owner.
El Paso and San Diego plan on meeting often to brainstorm, including another summit in the coming weeks.
