Cuervos de Nuevo Toledo: From fiction to reality?

Netflix series ‘Club de Cuervos’ aired for four seasons from 2015 to 2019. It featured fictitious football club Cuervos de Nuevo Toledo, mainly explained from the front office’s point of view. The entire series resembles real-life situations that occur in day-to-day club activities, with different egos and personalities affecting important decisions, club morale, an ultimately the team’s performance on the field.

As we all know, the Liga de Balompié Mexicano which is set to begin mid-October, has been making all sorts of ‘bangs’ since the COVID pandemic took over the sports world, as many former reknown players and coaches have taken important positions either in clubs or in the league office. And this is no different. Not too long ago, an investment group led by Carlos Alazraki attempted to convert Lobos BUAP to the famous club we’ve all heard about in the Netflix series. The FMF prevented that from occurring, as teams can not have a company name.

Now, the word on the block, according to ‘El Francotirador’ (Récord columnist), is Cuervos appear to be very close to becoming an expansion franchise in the LBM First Division. While they have yet to reveal any detail of the sort, it appears if the deal is completed, the club would be located in Chiapas. Another rumor has it that previous Veracruz owner Fidel Kuri is involved in the project and is helping work out the final details with the new football league.

One possible hair in the soup, if you will, is the fact that the official name ‘Cuervos de Nuevo Toledo’ is owned by the Netflix series creator Gaz Alazraki, meaning that this franchise which is in the works would probably not hold the exact same name. This would of course negate much of the excitement, given the tremendous impact the series had on its fans.

If this deal could come to fruition and they found a way to somehow incorporate at least part of the original name used in the series, this would be just one more reason why the new Liga de Balompié Mexicano should be given a fair shot. It is of course still a rumor, but what a story it would be if ‘El Francotirador’ ends up being right. And considering anything can happen in Mexico, this would be surprising, yet believable at the same time.

The LBM will make its official debut Friday, October 16, with Atlético Ensenada taking on Chapulineros de Oaxaca. While it certainly won’t reach Liga MX level, at least for a while, the new football league is definitely making very valid marketing arguments about why we should pay attention.