Canadian Premier League team York United has been sold to Game Plan Sports, a newly formed group of investors that has extensive ties to Mexican soccer, sources briefed on the deal told The Athletic.

Based in Toronto, York United was the first team to join the CPL in 2018. Since then, they have become one of the more turbulent franchises in Canada. The team underwent a brand rebuild in 2020 after originally launching as York9. In 2023, they were purchased by the league after a mutual agreement with the original owners, the Ontario-based Baldassarra family, that the club was in need of a new and clear direction. This next chapter of the team could present a drastic step forward.

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Eduardo, Ricardo, and Miguel Pasquel make up the ownership group of Game Plan Sports. The brothers will relocate to Toronto to take over the day-to-day operation of the club, with Eduardo as Chief Executive Officer, Ricardo as President and General Manager, and Miguel as Chief Commercial Officer.

The Pasquel brothers’ links to Mexican soccer are numerous: their uncle Alejandro Orvañanos is a former President of historic Liga MX side Club América and their father Miguel Pasquel Sr. previously served as the General Secretary and Chief Financial Officer for the Mexican Football Federation. Their grandfathers have Liga MX playing experience for sides such as Club America, but more importantly, have previously owned professional franchises including Club Necaxa.

The Pasquel brothers first expressed interest in purchasing York United in May. They soon spent a week in Toronto to better understand the market, its potential and the financial feasibility of club ownership. Given York United’s proximity both to Toronto, the largest city in Canada, and Brampton, which has produced prominent men’s national team players such as Tajon Buchanan, Jonathan Osorio and Cyle Larin, multiple sources said Game Plan Sports saw untapped potential for further growth in the region throughout the course of negotiations.

According to sources, multiple ownership groups expressed interest and presented bids to purchase York United. The fee paid for the club would be the highest in the history of the CPL, according to league commissioner Mark Noonan. The hope within the league is that this acquisition could improve how the CPL is viewed in Canada and abroad.

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Leagues around the world welcome foreign investment via club ownership to inject much-needed cash and resources into teams but also to expand a club and league’s reach around the world. For a league that has just five seasons under its belt — two of those stricken by the pandemic with a serious drop in gate revenue — continued foreign investment suggests interest in the CPL is growing.

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One club, Atletico Ottawa, already counts Atletico Madrid as its owner. With Game Plan Sports, and their ties to Mexican soccer, now investing in the league — coupled with the exposure from the 2026 World Cup co-hosted by Canada — there is a hope it could herald steps forward for the league such as an increased salary cap, which could improve the quality of players in the league and other opportunities for growth and employment throughout CPL.

York’s new ownership group is also believed to have been influenced by the growth of MLS not long after the 1994 World Cup in the United States. They believe they can begin fostering young Canadian players with increased resources and create increased awareness of the club and the league when World Cup games are hosted at nearby BMO Field in Toronto in 2026.

Negotiations took the next step when current Mexico Football Federation secretary-general Iñigo Riestra called CPL Commissioner Mark Noonan to vouch for the credibility of the group. This convinced the league of the seriousness of the bid and allowed them to begin looking into the potential the bid could offer.

One element of the ownership bid that appealed to the CPL is the family connections the brothers maintain to FEMSA, a multinational beverage and retail company that owns the Mexican team CF Monterrey. Additionally, harsh winter weather is a challenge the league continues to face when it comes to ideal off-season training conditions. The CPL saw strategic value in a Mexican group with ties to CF Monterrey investing as it could allow for preseason training or tournaments with multiple CPL teams in Mexico to extend their season in the future.

Furthermore, strengthening ties with foreign clubs makes way for loan deals for emerging CPL talent.

In the short term, York United is expected to continue playing at York Lions Stadium. Game Plan Sports, however, will spend its first season researching other potential locations for the team to play, according to sources briefed on the deal. A proposed 8000-seat soccer specific at the Woodbine Racetrack remains a possibility for the long-term home of the team.

(Photo: Canadian Premier League)