Shares in Liga MX’s Club América, a spin-off from Mexico’s largest broadcaster, Televisa, which controls one of the country’s top football clubs, soared by as much as 200% in their market debut on Tuesday.
The group, also known as Ollamani, represents Mexico’s current league champions Club América and their iconic Estadio Azteca, bringing together Televisa’s former betting business and publishing operations.
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Within their first hours of trading, shares hit 34.50 pesos ($1.34) compared to a starting price of 11.50 pesos, their hurtling increase triggering several brief market trading suspensions as some 1.6 million shares swapped hands.
América join a select list of publicly traded football clubs, such as Manchester United, Juventus, Borussia Dortmund and Ajax. An estimated 25 football institutions across 13 countries are publicly traded.
Club América is the first team in Latin America to enter the stock market. It is the country’s most successful club with 14 championship wins, and its home stadium has a capacity of over 80,000 and has hosted two World Cups.
These include the 1986 tournament which saw Argentina legend Diego Maradona score his legendary “Hand of God” goal against England.
Stock in Club América and Estadio Azteca will be traded independently.
FIFA has recently announced that Azteca will host the 2026 World Cup’s inaugural match, and experts hope this could attract some $150 million to improve the facility.
The debut is a boost for Mexico’s stock market, which has for years lacked new listings and has seen companies choose to delist from the exchange.
“It’s the euphoria of the first day of trading,” Roga Capital financial specialist Jacobo Rodríguez said, noting his firm had forecast the price at some 17 pesos. “We’ll have to see how it settles in the coming days.”
Televisa, which retains control of its television business, said the split would allow both companies to focus on their respective industries. Analysts, meanwhile, have said the move could facilitate a possible merger between Televisa and fellow broadcaster Megacable.
Televisa’s spin-off accounted for some 10% of group revenues, and its investors have received one CPO title for each Televisa share they held.
Reuters contributed to this report.
