MLS in San Antonio?
 

A recent article in the Business Journal suggests they are interested in San Antonio.

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanantoni....html?page=all

MLS expansion report: San Antonio scored meeting with Garber
 

Could MLS see a third team in Texas as part of its goal to have 24 teams by the end of the decade? San Antonio’s mayor and NASL franchise hope that’s the case as they met with MLS commissioner Don Garber on Tuesday.

Mayor Julian Castro and San Antonio Scorpions owner Gordon Hartman were set to meet with Garber ahead of Wednesday’s match between Mexico and South Korea, after Garber had to cancel a New York meeting with Castro in late 2013.

“(Garber) is certainly aware of growing popularity of the sport in San Antonio, and he’s excited to learn more during the visit,” MLS spokesman Dan Courtemanche said. “Clearly the Scorpions have been a tremendous success at the lower divisions, as illustrated by their strong support. It’s something all of us in the American soccer community have noticed.”
Surely the club would love to be in the news for something much bigger than trading a player for team travel accommodations.

The report from the San Antonio Express News notes that the league is braced for twin interest from the NASL’s Minnesota United in addition to one from the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings, as well as Atlanta and, of course, David Beckham in Miami.

The former Manchester United, Real Madrid and LA Galaxy star has been working to drum up support for a soccer specific stadium in South Florida, enthusiastically aided by Miami-Dade mayor Carlos Gimenez and the pair will meet next Tuesday or Wednesday to go over their ideas.


http://prosoccertalk.nbcsports.com/2...ext-week-push/

The MLS brass is pitting San Antonio against Austin for a franchise. The MLS has said they want new venues to be in or near downtowns. If this is the case, San Antonio and Austin are in a dead heat. Neither city has anything in development for a downtown, soccer-specific stadium seating approximately 20,000.

If not, San Antonio is the clear winner. They already has an expandable, soccer-specific stadium (Toyota Field) in northeast SA. It already has plans to be able to expand to 18,500 seats (including 32 luxury/VIP suites).

This will be interesting to watch...

Apparently, someone's a wee bit too gullible. It's a prank/joke story. :haha:

Gullible? To what are you referring? If you are referring to yesterday's Austin Chronicle story...note: my comments were posted on March 9, long before that story was written!!!

My comments stemmed from a Business Journal op-ed.

My EDIT was note directed at you but a link to a story.

Not really following you here. Yah, the article is way out there and loaded with questionable facts and dates. In fact, it has changed since yesterday. However it is about Austin and Austin currently defies logic.

It's an April fools joke.

Key advice: Don't believe everything you read online. :P

I appreciate the tip. I'll be sure to start looking for the jokes early next year.

It's been awhile since I lived in SA, can you share with me where the stadium site is a little better.?

It's located on the northeast side. It was built in an old abandonded quarry.

Basically, where the red star is.

Perfect, thanks for the info

It looks like Atlanta is the front runner: :(

http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/bl...ccer-team.html

Wow, what a terribly reported article.

The author thinks that the second team in NYC is part of the 4 new franchises and that Atlanta is getting the fourth and final spot.

The NYC team will become the 20th MLS franchise; this news came out a long time ago. After that announcement MLS said that they would expand to 24 teams.

Orlando, Miami, and Atlanta have basically been locks for a long time. MLS has really wanted to break into the Southeast. The competition is for that 4th and final spot.

Cities competing for final spot:
- Minneapolis
- Sacramento
- San Antonio
- Austin
- St. Louis
- San Diego

Thanks for the link though, I needed a good laugh.

MLS getting closer? official bid
 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AesA7GR_PAE

Thanks for sharing that video! The past few weeks I've been reading more and more on the expansion. I know there was a lot of talk about Austin being in competition with us, but it'd appear that as of yesterday (deadline to submit applications) Austin didn't submit anything. I know SA was trying to sell MLS on the SA/Austin megaregion and also used Austin as an excuse for why the stadium isn't in downtown SA, since the stadium is so close to 35.

Anyone have thoughts as to who they think MLS will select? They plan for four, but only announcing two this year from what I've gathered.

San Antonio- Having SS&E as the owners is a huge plus, but plans & funding for stadium expansion leaves questions.
Phoenix- Not sure Phoenix can get its act together quickly enough for this. I live here and haven't heard much, not like I have SA.
San Diego- MLS could consider now that the Chargers have left a big void.
Sacramento- From what I've read, they seem to be the most prepared.
St. Louis- Same as San Diego, no more Rams, but city seems eager for soccer and has a good location for their stadium. Would also make a good rival for Sporting KC.
Indianapolis
Cincinnati
Detroit
Nashville
Charlotte
Raleigh
Tampa/St. Petersburg

More on Austin and MLS LINK

MLS is big Ponzi scheme. Too poorly run to justify the price for entry.

But, as long as it'd SS&E's money, and not publicly financed, I won't gripe too much.

This is going to be about media markets and geographic footprint.

St Louis is desired by MLS. If they can figure out a stadium, they're in.

Sacramento has been told that "it's a matter of when not if" and their stadium is shovel-ready.

Cincinnati has 10k season ticket holders and 10 Fortune500 companies to boast.

Tampa/St Pete has a downtown stadium and an upgrade/expansion plan in place - and is the largest media market not in MLS.

Detroit has a downtown stadium plan and owner of Cleveland Cavs and Detroit Pistons joining forces in their bid. ($$$$!!!!)

Shall we go on?

This is a BIG hill to climb for San Antonio. Still possible, but longshot.

You can read all about the various bids here: http://www.si.com/planet-futbol/mls-...-bids-28-teams

Really a great look at who we're bidding against...and the page is updated as more of the city profiles are completed.

Here is San Antonio's specifically: http://www.si.com/planet-futbol/mls-...ty-san-antonio

I think San Antonio's chances are pretty good because of the reputable, financially able, ownership group involved.:cheers:
We shall see!:tup:

#1 Sacramento
#2 St. Louis
#3 Cincinnati
#4 San Antonio

(Not predicting in any particular order) although Sacramento has a strong brand in the Republic FC, a large USL fan base, shovel ready stadium, youth soccer academy, jersey sponsorship and a diverse ownership group with deep pockets. I think the MLS would pass over Sacramento given its proximity to San Jose (MSL Earthquakes) except that Sacramento has reached every expansion benchmark the MLS has asked for; making it difficult for MLS to say no. I think San Antonio, Cincinnati and St. Louis are all markets MLS is interested in expanding in sooner rather than later so my guess is that this will be the four expansion markets. We'll see soon enough.

SA FC looks promising!
 

Off to a great start for season #2!:tup:

https://therivardreport.com/ownershi...league-soccer/

If the Crew does move to Autin, kiss MLS in SA goodbye:

http://www.espnfc.com/columbus-crew-...n-to-austin-tx

Sports in SA is looking grim right now. Lost the Missions, Sold the Stars, and now Austin may get the MLS Franchise many here hoped for.

1. Property in downtown Austin is very expensive for soccer stadium. Owner wants a downtown Stadium.

2. Austin is Longhorn country plain and simple.

1. We are not building a DT stadium. Ours is well Northeast of DT

2. If an established club sees a city with no stadium more viable than one that has a stadium, seventy miles away, then MLS doesn't see us as viable either.

3. San Antonio is Spurs country plain and simple.

SA didn't lose the Missions. They are becoming Triple A in 2019.

I grew up in Austin. It's Longhorn country for sure, but there are a ton of soccer fans there. I honestly believe an MLS team would do very well in Austin. I'd even go as far as saying MLS could be as successful in Austin as it has been in Portland.

That said, I do agree it will be very hard to get a stadium built downtown given the current and planned development. I honestly don't know where they would put it - but never say never. Austin has had success with the Express in Round Rock and both the Stars/Spurs in Cedar Park, so city leaders could convince MLS to build outside of downtown. Austin's been waiting for a pro franchise for a very long time. I can see this happening.

The ESPN article quoted the owner saying he would move if he couldn't get a new stadium deal. I've lived in SA long enough to have heard that said about us before (looking at you Raiders). This could be a case of MLS using Austin as other pro franchises have used SA. But my gut tells me to believe their is serious interest in moving the franchise to Austin and if that happens you can absolutely say goodbye to any chance of SA getting an MLS team. Which is disappointing. I really think MLS would do great in SA.

It's worse baseball. Not nearly as many viable prospects in Triple A as in Double A.

So, yes. We lose.

LOL!!!
GO SPURS GO!!!!!!!!:cheers:

Other than being annoying without contribution, do you have a point?

And yes Go Spurs Go!!!:cheers:

I think the Spurs sold the Stars in order to focus more on getting a MLS franchise. I just don't think it's going to happen.

The City of Austin wasn't making any effort to get a MLS franchise, and there doesn't appear to have been any significant private effort to get a franchise. This just fell into Austin's lap so to speak, like the F1 track. Even with a team almost being handed to Austin, I don't think there will be enough public support to get it done. At this point I still think it's more likely that S.A. will land a team before Austin.

I believe Triple-A is better baseball:

Triple-A: A mixture of the game’s most major league-ready prospects, 4-A players, career minor leaguers, and the non-official “taxi squad” players for a major league organization.

Double-A: The entrance to the “upper minors,” the jump to Double-A tends to be the most difficult for prospects, and tells us the most about them.

https://www.fangraphs.com/tht/unders...league-levels/

Lot's of opinions on this, but most people that watch baseball believe the better game is in Double A.

It doesn't really matter, as once again we settle for less than the top league.

I believe that too
 

And since I don't believe the MLS is ever coming here, it is a net loss.

To be fair though, I didn't follow the Stars much, and it doesn't seem much of San Antonio did either.

GO SPURS GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
COACH POPOVICH FOR PRESIDENT!!!!!:cheers:


YESSSSS SIR!!!!!!!:tup:

FAIRNESS-DIVERSITY-HUMILITY:yes:

There just might be a silver lining to this cloud...if there was an NBA and MLS here the powers that be might feel the population wouldn't be able to support any other pro sports. I'd rather hold out for an NFL team rather than MLS

I certainly don't care if MLS comes here or not, though it may be a moot point:

https://woai.iheart.com/content/2017...managed_social

"Had Bexar County been made aware of such a rights, we would not have invested in Toyota Field," Wolff wrote.

When asked if the idea of an expansion big league franchise in San Antonio is 'dead,' he replied "it sure sounds like it to me.'"

NFL Owners decide which city gets an NFL team. I doubt Jerry Jones will allow a major Cowboys fanbase like the one in San Antonio to disappear. On the other hand, Major League Baseball would do very well in San Antonio. We can always team up with Austin to build a stadium in San Marcos. Both SA & Austin growing metros combined are over 4 million. San Marcos can be what Arlington is to the Rangers.

Agree with you Re the NFL, but I disagree with you on MLB. Not the point about SA supporting and MLB team, but that we have to share with Austin. San Antonio can support major sports, and we don't need the Austin factor to be viable.

This is getting to seem defeatist. "We need Austin to agree to a regional airport"; "We need Austin for a major sports franchise"; We need Austin...ad nauseum".

As a couple of our posters point out, whom I probably don't agree with on much, we are not Austin. They don't want to blend South, and I don't want to blend North.

So, can we stop with the "regional" nonsense, and try to be a city of San Antonio, by San Antonio?

I think it's time for a reality check.

Yes let us focus on SA please. The perception that we are another DFW needs to die. SA and ATX are two independent thriving metros with growing population, GDP, etc. Look at Philly and NYC as examples. That's the direction I hope we can achieve someday.:tup:

I believe SA can have more than one pro sports team. Many people do and my friends outside of San Antonio wonder why we just have the Spurs. Unfortunately, SA has failed for decades in luring a major sports team to South Texas.

Las Vegas, the new home of our former WNBA team, has an NHL team now and the Raiders coming to town in 2020. It feels like we drop further down on the supposed "shortlist" for a franchise each year.

Austin is the fastest growing city in the US. They also have a bigger economy than San Antonio. I don't know exactly how badly this booming college town wants a major sports team. I hate being a pessimist, but I don't think we can do it on our own. And we certainly can't compete for one with ATX.

With the fallout from this deal with Toyota Field, our city's leaders cannot get it done. I hope I'm wrong but it seems we've exhausted all our options :(

You are not being a pessimist, you are being realistic. Austin is quickly becoming a great, vibrant city. I can't blame any pro sports league for taking a look at Austin and saying wow, this looks like a place that's on the up. Just imagine if they get the Amazon headquarters, which our leadership gave up on. I know I am probably in the minority on this, but I am embarrassed that Nelson Wolfe is trying to sue MLS. Bottom line is Austin has put itself in a position as a city that the MLS is looking to relocate there. San Antonio is begging for another pro sports team and nobody wants to come here and there are legitimate reasons why.

I feel like we need to "work on us" before we start trying to lure franchises here. Work on growing our economy, our transportation infrastructure, our schools. When we start from the ground up, we can look more enticing to sports teams.

Questions about MLS integrity
 

All "major" leagues have their issues but MLS has been getting a lot of bad press lately, probably only second to the NFL. There are many calling them a "Ponzi scheme" mostly interesting in extracting expansion related fees from cities desperate for a team in what they perceive is the "up and coming" American sport. If you read the many stories about the PR battles being waged for the next round of expansion teams, you'd think that winning an expansion franchise is more valuable than finding a gold mine under your house. Truth is American pro soccer is highly fragmented with three leagues all vying for attention. The MLS just turned down a multi-billion dollar TV deal because the deal, it is rumored, would have included the institution of a "Promotion and relegation" system that included both the USL (San Antonio FC's league) and NASL, which is similar to the way the European soccer leagues work. Also, the MLS is getting blamed, in part, for the poor performance of the US Mens National Soccer team which failed to qualify for the World Cup 2018 tournament.

Here are a couple of articles related to this:

https://deadspin.com/is-mls-a-ponzi-scheme-1797509617

https://mlsmultiplex.com/2017/07/26/...-look-like-us/

BOO MLS!!!!!!!
Do we really want MLS here???

BOOOOOO!!!!!:slob:

USA not participating in the 2018 World Cup will only hurt the MLS and the popularity of soccer!

The Mayor, Judge Wolfe and the Spurs think so.

Agree!