The Astros de Jalisco, the new Guadalajara-based franchise in the Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional (LNBP), will kick off their debut season next week.
The franchise owned by Grupo Multimedios will compete in the 18-team league, considered one of the most important in Latin America.
Home games will be played in the Polideportivo Ávila Camacho, situated in the Parque Avila Camacho in Colonia Jardines del Country. The stadium, built to house the volleyball competition during the 2011 Pan American Games, has a capacity of 3,200.
After several pre-season games at the beginning of September, the Astros are ready to start the season with two home games against the Aguacateros de Michoacan, Thursday, September 19, 8 p.m. and Saturday, September 21, 9 p.m
Players already signed up to the Astros’ roster come from a variety of countries, including the United States, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, as well as Mexico.
A standout recruit looks to be Israel Gutiérrez, who captained the Mexican basketball team in the recent Pan American Games in Lima, Peru.
Grupo Multimedios says it will invest around 80 million pesos ($US4.1 million) in the new sporting venture.
Tickets for the inaugural game cost 300-500 pesos; combined tickets for the first two games run from 450-750 pesos.
For the remainder of the regular season, individual game tickets will cost from 150 to 1,000 pesos (VIP zone).
Tickets are on sale at the Estadio Charros (the baseball stadium) or at boletomovil.com.
As of press time, the full calendar of regular season games had not been published on either the LNBP or Astros websites.
Astros home games are scheduled weekdays at 8 p.m., on Saturdays at 9 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m.
Home games will also been streamed live on the Astros Facebook page.
The LNBP is divided into East and West divisions. The Astros play in the West division along with teams from Leon, Morelia, Puebla, Mexico City, Queretero, Aguascalientes, Mexicali and San Luis Potosi.
The East division teams are from Fresnillo, Zacatecas, Tampico, Durango, Ciudad Victoria, Cancun, Monterrey, Torreon and Chihuahua.
The eight best-placed teams qualify for the postseason, which will begin on January 8, 2020. An all-star game will be played in November.
The league has been in operation since 2000. Famous players who have played in the LNBP include Jamario Moon, Dennis Rodman, Sun Mingming and Horacio Llamas. The current champions are Fuerza Regia de Monterrey.