Club America has been left alone at Estadio Ciudad de los Deportes. First Atlante and now Cruz Azul have fled the Benito Juarez district, but the Eagles have decided to stay at the controversy-shrouded facility and have already begun its "Americanization."

The owners avoid the apocalyptic scenario

From three games a week to none in less than three months. The threat hung over the owners of Estadio Ciudad de los Deportes for a long time after authorities closed the stadium in early November. After a few days, the facility reopened its gates, but with a condition that prevented Atlante FC, Cruz Azul and Club America from sharing it: a maximum of one event per day for either the stadium or the nearby Plaza de los Toros.

Despite logistical problems and long-standing rumors that all three teams would move out at the same time, the Cosío family, which owns the stadium, avoided the most apocalyptic scenario. They managed to keep the Eagles, but Atlante and Cruz Azul fled the Benito Juarez district.

Cruz Azul follows in the footsteps of Atlante

After the November events, second-league Atlante was the first to react. Los Potros de Hierro announced their move to Estadio Agustín Coruco Díaz, and its president spared no bitter words toward the managers of the club's former headquarters. According to him, after Cruz Azul and Club America arrived at the stadium there was no more room for Atlante.

On Thursday, in turn, Cruz Azul announced that Liga MX authorities had accepted their move request. La Máquina will play both Clausura 2025 and Apertura 2025 at Estadio Olímpico Universitario. The 63,000-capacity stadium is also located in the Mexican capital and is the home of Pumas. At the same time, the club is continuing to work on finding a site in Ciudad de Mexico to build its own stadium.

© Iván Linares | The proximity of the stadium and Plaza de los Toros is limiting the number of games since November and forced Atlante and Cruz Azul to move out.

Club America takes over Estadio Ciudad de los Deportes

But even before Cruz Azul announced its move, Club America began work on Americanizing the stadium. Since the first days of January, the stands have been gradually changing colors from red and blue to yellow. This was to the delight of Eagles fans, who proposed that the facility, called by many Estadio Azul (Blue Stadium), be renamed Estadio Azulcrema (Cream-Blue Stadium), referring to the colors of the club, whose players play in cream-colored jerseys and blue shorts.

However, as the club's sports president Santiago Baños admitted, staying at Estadio Azul was not so obvious. In an interview with ESPN he revealed that they were looking for another venue, but Deportivo Toluca refused to let them play at Estadio Nemesio Díez, and other stadiums were too far from the capital. Baños announced that as a result they would play most of their matches right in Ciudad de México, with two or three in other Mexican stadiums.

Club America will return to Estadio Azteca once its renovation is completed, which according to the latest information should happen in December 2025. That's also when the Eagles will once again share their home with Cruz Azul, as La Maquina has a contract to play at the legendary venue until 2028.

© Toluca FC | Estadio Nemesio Diez in Toluca is located about 1.5h from Ciudad de México by car.