Mazatlán Blames ex-Mayor for $13.6 Million Payment to Venados Baseball Club After Losing Legal Battle

The bill arrived on July 10. The Mazatlán city government was ordered by the Sala Superior del Tribunal de Justicia Administrativa de Sinaloa to pay 13.6 million pesos to the Club Venados de Mazatlán — roughly $680,000 USD. Not a catastrophic sum for a city with a 3.2 billion peso annual budget, but real money that could have been spent on drainage, street paving, or public lighting. Instead, it goes to a baseball team.

Moisés Ríos Pérez, the municipal secretary, did not mince words. He blamed the government of Édgar González Zataráin, mayor from 2021 to 2024, for a botched legal defense that all but guaranteed the city would lose.

"The lawsuit was filed in 2022. In September 2024, before this administration took office, there was no defense as such, no proper care," Ríos said. "By September 2024, before we arrived, the verdict was practically already decided."

How a Water Bill Turned Into a Multi-Million Peso Lawsuit

The conflict traces back to 2018, when the city government under then-mayor Luis Guillermo Benítez Torres ordered the water supply to Estadio Teodoro Mariscal to be cut off. The Venados de Mazatlán, one of the most storied franchises in the Mexican Pacific League with a history stretching back to 1945, suddenly found itself unable to provide basic services at its home stadium. To compound the pressure, the city also closed the stadium's ticket booths during two official league games, preventing the team from selling tickets to fans who had arrived for the games.

City officials at the time cited unresolved maintenance obligations — a dispute over who was responsible for upkeep of the municipal stadium. The Venados organization saw it differently: as an unwarranted and politically motivated interference with their operations. The team had won multiple league championships and served as a source of civic identity for generations in Sinaloa. Shutting down their operations over a maintenance dispute seemed, to many observers, disproportionate.

The Venados sued, initiating a process that would take seven years to resolve. The case wound through the state administrative tribunal system at the pace typical of Mexican courts — slow, deliberate, and costly. By the time González's administration inherited the case in 2021, the legal machinery was already in motion. But there was still time to mount a serious defense, negotiate a settlement, or minimize exposure. None of that happened.

According to Ríos, the legal team under González failed on multiple fronts. They did not present key evidence that would have mitigated the city's liability. They missed court deadlines. They did not challenge the Venados' damage calculations. They did not explore settlement options that might have resolved the case for a fraction of the final judgment.

"They say the dead go to the graveyard and the living go to the party," Ríos said, using a Mexican proverb to suggest that the current administration cannot undo the mistakes of the past but must deal with their consequences.

By September 2024 — the last year of González's term and just months before the current administration took office — the tribunal had effectively reached its verdict. The city's legal team had no last-minute options to reverse it. When the formal ruling was issued, the decision was complete: the city was ordered to pay the full amount claimed by the Venados, plus interest and legal costs accumulated over years of litigation. Total: 13.6 million pesos.

Thirteen point six million pesos is not an existential threat, but the city operates with tight margins. The money will have to come from somewhere — likely from infrastructure, public works or social programs that were already planned for the current fiscal year. Every peso that goes to the Venados is a peso that does not go to road repairs, public lighting, or drainage improvements.

The city plans to negotiate a payment agreement with the Venados organization rather than paying the full amount at once. The baseball club has signaled willingness to discuss a structured payment plan, and both sides have an interest in resolving the matter amicably. The Venados are one of Mazatlán's most visible institutions, drawing crowds of 10,000 to 15,000 fans per game during the Pacific League season from October to January. The economic impact of a single home series is estimated at 5 to 8 million pesos in spending at hotels, restaurants, bars and shops. A protracted conflict benefits nobody.

The finger-pointing has predictable political dynamics. Édgar González is a member of Morena, the party of President Sheinbaum. The current administration, which took office in October 2024, represents a different political coalition. The Venados case gives the current government a convenient scapegoat for an expensive problem that predates its tenure.

But the facts raise legitimate questions about how González's administration managed legal obligations. A lawsuit that drags on for years and ends with a complete loss — no settlement, no partial verdict, no mitigating agreement — suggests either negligence or incompetence in the legal department. González's team included a municipal legal affairs director and outside counsel; the failure falls on both.

González has not responded publicly to the accusations. His administration faced other legal and financial challenges during its term, including disputes over public contracts and questions about municipal debt management. The Venados case is the most expensive single liability to surface since he left office. The current administration has hinted that other unresolved legal matters from the previous term could emerge in the coming months, potentially costing the city more.

The Institutional Lesson

The Venados case is a reminder of how much money cities can lose through poor legal management. Municipal governments in Mexico are frequently involved in litigation — disputes over contracts, property, labor, and regulatory enforcement. Most are resolved without major financial damage. But when a case is mishandled, the costs compound over years.

The root cause is institutional: municipal legal departments in Mexico are often understaffed, under-resourced and subject to political pressure. Attorneys may be appointed based on loyalty rather than expertise. Case management systems are rudimentary. Settlement authority is unclear. The result is that cases that should be resolved quickly and cheaply drag on for years, accumulating legal costs and interest.

For Mazatlán, the lesson is about continuity. The city's legal department should have maintained a proper defense regardless of who was in office. That it did not suggests systemic problems that go beyond any single administration. The current government has promised reforms: better case tracking, earlier settlement evaluations, greater accountability for outside counsel, and a more professional legal department insulated from political turnover.

For the Venados, the 13.6 million peso award compensates for lost revenue during the 2018 incident and the years of legal costs that followed. But the damage goes beyond money. The dispute damaged the relationship between the team and the city government that is supposed to be its partner. Estadio Teodoro Mariscal is a municipal facility. The Venados operate it under an agreement that requires both sides to cooperate on maintenance, security and operations. That relationship will take time to rebuild.

The team also lost years of focus. While its legal team pursued the case, the organization could have been investing in facilities, marketing or player development. The legal battle was a distraction that a franchise of the Venados' size — part of a nine-team league with limited revenue — could ill afford.

For Mazatlán's baseball fans, the resolution means their team can focus on the diamond. The 2026-2027 Pacific League season starts in October. The Venados are expected to be competitive, with a roster that includes several experienced veterans and promising young players. With the legal fight behind them, they can concentrate on winning games. ### The Economic Impact of Winter Ball

The Mexican Pacific League is not the major leagues, but in Sinaloa it might as well be. The season runs from October through January, with playoffs extending into February for the championship teams. During those months, Mazatlán's economy gets a noticeable boost. Hotels fill up on game days. Restaurants run dinner specials timed to the seventh-inning stretch. Bars show away games on big screens. Taxi drivers know the schedule by heart.

A 2023 economic impact study commissioned by the league found that each home game generates approximately 500,000 pesos in direct spending within the host city — tickets, concessions, parking, and nearby commerce. For a typical 35-game home schedule, that works out to roughly 17.5 million pesos in annual direct economic impact per team. The Venados are one of the league's best-drawing franchises, so the actual numbers may be higher.

Protecting that economic engine should be a priority for any city government. The fact that Mazatlán spent seven years fighting its own team in court, ultimately losing 13.6 million pesos, reflects a failure of institutional judgment that went beyond the legal department.

The payment to the Venados is a sunk cost. The current administration cannot undo it. What it can do is ensure that the relationship with the team does not deteriorate further. Ríos has indicated that the city is committed to working with the Venados on a payment plan and to improving communication going forward. "We want the Venados to be successful," he said. "They are part of Mazatlán's identity. The sooner we resolve this, the sooner we can move forward."

The city could also take steps to prevent similar disputes in the future: clearer maintenance agreements for municipal facilities, better documentation of interactions with concession holders, and a legal department that treats every potential lawsuit as a serious risk rather than a political inconvenience. The 13.6 million peso lesson should not be wasted.

For a city that lives and breathes winter baseball, that is the best possible outcome.