FRONT OFFICE

Alan Ledford is president of MountainStar Sports Group, the El Paso Locomotive FC professional soccer team, and the El Paso Chihuahuas. He currently oversees all initiatives of MountainStar, including the Chihuahuas, Triple-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres, as well as El Paso Locomotive FC. He also serves as President of Leg Up Entertainment, a division of MountainStar Sports Group area. A native of California, Alan began his sports and entertainment career as a college student when he secured a one-year internship with the Oakland A’s. That internship turned into a career of fifteen seasons with the team, culminating in his role as Vice President of Business Operations for the A’s. Today, Alan’s career spans over 36 years of experience in all aspects of the sports and entertainment business.

After his tenure with the Oakland A’s, Alan left the world of professional sports to help start and grow MGO, a Bay Area sports and entertainment consulting group where he served as Executive Vice President. In his capacity with MGO, Alan represented a private ownership group and led a successful effort to bring a Triple-A Baseball team to a new ballpark in Sacramento, California. He was later instrumental in the launch of the Sacramento River Cats franchise and was subsequently engaged to become President, Chief Operating Officer, and General Manager of the team and its home ballpark, Raley Field. During Alan’s nearly nine-year tenure overseeing day- to-day operations of the franchise and stadium, the River Cats led all of Minor League Baseball in attendance and revenue generation. Alan was named the 2006 Minor League Baseball Executive of the Year by Baseball America.

Alan’s career highlights also include the successful acquisition, turnaround, and ultimate sale of the Portland Beavers (Triple-A) and of soccer’s Portland Timbers (USL). Prior to his  involvement both teams were performing poorly and in financial distress. Ultimately, Alan  helped develop and execute plans that transitioned both teams to successful and profitable businesses.

In 2011, Alan founded his own company, Perfect Game Ventures, LLC, a sports management and consulting firm that works with investors to acquire and manage Minor League Baseball teams. He served as CEO of Perfect Game Ventures until being engaged to lead MountainStar’s effort to bring a Triple-A Baseball team to the city, build a staff and business, and construct the new ballpark in Downtown El Paso. In its 2014 inaugural season, the El Paso Chihuahuas sold out nearly 75% of their home games, with 548,000 fans going through the gates of Southwest University Park. That number broke the Minor League Baseball attendance record for the City of El Paso, set in 1985. The team sold merchandise in all fifty states and ten countries, generated more Facebook Likes than all other 159 teams in Minor League Baseball, and received the Promotion of the Year Award – all in its first year. In addition, Southwest University Park was named 2014 Ballpark of the Year by Ballpark Digest.

Alan is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley and holds a BS degree in Business Administration. He and his wife, Ann, have three children.

Since his arrival in the Sun City, Taylor has witnessed the groundbreaking of Southwest University Park, helped build the front office staff, and led the charge as the Chihuahuas successfully launched their brand on October 22, 2013. Under Taylor’s guidance, the Chihuahuas have become the top selling merchandise brand in Minor League Baseball (MiLB), a feat that includes the top social media ranking (more than 275K followers across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, LinkedIn & YouTube) out of 120 teams.

During the 2014 inaugural campaign, the Chihuahuas garnered national attention for their logo, merchandise, promotions and attendance. The Chihuahuas’ Bark at the Park Promotion was named MiLB’s Promotion of the Year (the second time in Taylor’s career; Bowling Green Hot Rods, 2009) and raised more than $20,000 for local animal groups. Southwest University Park was also named the 2014 Ballpark of the Year by Ballpark Digest and Baseballparks.com.

With the success of the Chihuahuas inaugural season, Taylor was named a Pacific Coast League Executive of the Year finalist in 2014. Taylor was again a finalist for the PCL Executive of the year award in 2017 and 2019.

Taylor has been instrumental in Southwest University Park’s success as one of El Paso’s premier venues. Since its opening, the ballpark has been home to three professional international exhibition soccer matches, IBF Featherweight Boxing, the El Paso Marathon, the 2015 Gildan Triple-A Baseball National Championship game, Way Out West Country Music Festival, the 2019 Triple-A Baseball All-Star game and Home Run Derby and the 2019 Innovator’s Summit. The ballpark has also been a venue for concerts, weddings, business conferences and expos, 5K community races, high school baseball games and company galas.

As Senior Vice President for MountainStar Sports Group, Taylor assisted in hiring the El Paso Locomotive FC front office staff, helps supervise the sales and marketing efforts, team branding and facility enhancements and improvements at Southwest University Park to accommodate USL soccer.