After playing a full season on the road after a failed move to Tucson, Arizona, the Mayos de Navojoa will return to Mexico for the 2026-27 Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacifico season.
The league made the announcement Wednesday afternoon in conjunction with Governor of Sonora, Alfonso Durazo Montaño, the president of the ARCO League, Salvador Escobar, and the president of the club, Víctor Cuevas. The franchise will return to the Estadio Manuel .Ciclón’ Echeverría Stadium for the 2026-2027 season, and the Mexican state of Sonora, which will fund a renovation of Estadio Echeverria, which the Mayos previously called home from 1959 to 2025.
After the club drew an average of 3,961 fans over 34 home games in 2024-25 at the 11,500-seat Estadio Manuel ”Ciclon” Echeverria in Navojoa, the Mayos officially moved to Tucson for the 2025-26 winter season, but never played a game there after being unable to secure visas necessary for foreign-born players and staff to work in the United States.
The club started the season with a road game in Hermosillo before they expected to host the Naranjeros for their first four home games at Kino Veteran’s Memorial Stadium, the Tucson Baseball Team, as the franchise was named, ended up playing that first series – and then their entire schedule – on the road.
Earlier this month, Sonora governor Alfonso Durazo Montaño voiced his support at a press conference, where he was asked about his willingness to get behind a MX$120 million (US$6.75 million) renovation of the aged Estadio Echeverria.
“We are in talks; yes, I will support it; Navojoa is a baseball-loving town and it needs it,” Durazo Montaño said according to a report from Momento Deportivo. “It’s an opportunity for recreation and to continue promoting one of the sports that most distinguishes the state. I trust that I will not leave my term without fulfilling this demand of the people of Navojoa.”
Earlier reports indicated that the franchise’s owners were considering the cities of San Luis Rio Colorado in Baja California and La Paz in Baja California del Sur as possibilities, while Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso, Texas, was also a possibility.
Navojoa is the smallest city in the league, with a population of around 165,000. Despite playing on the road in 2025-26, the team did better attendance-wise than they did during their final seasons in Navojoa, drawing an average of 5,345 fans per “home” game. The club drew an average of 3,961 fans over 34 home games in 2024-25 at the 11,500-seat Estadio Manuel ”Ciclon” Echeverria in Navojoa. While LAMP attendance figures can be difficult to obtain, the 2024-25 season was at least the second time in three years that the Mayos finished last in the 10-team league in attendance, after averaging 3,243 in 2022-23.
Photo: The Mayos de Navojoa will return to the Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacifico in the 2026-27 season. (Graphic courtesy of LAMP)
