[Corinth940]

From the latest San Antonio Business Journal

Red McCombs says Alamo City has more ammo for NFL hunt
San Antonio Business Journal - January 26, 2007
by W. Scott Bailey

While the governors of Indiana and Illinois are deciding what to wager each other for Super Bowl XLI, Texas Gov. Rick Perry's office believes the odds of San Antonio eventually landing its own NFL franchise may be improving.

Meanwhile, former NFL owner and San Antonio civic cheerleader Red McCombs says the league's new commissioner likes what he sees in the Alamo City.


McCombs owned the Minnesota Vikings before selling the team in the spring of 2005 to New Jersey real estate developer Zygmunt Wilf. He has been perhaps San Antonio's most outspoken leader in terms of what an NFL team could mean for this region.

McCombs says San Antonio currently has the right political leadership in place -- with San Antonio Mayor Phil Hardberger and Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff -- to make a run for a team. He says the city may have some help in Austin, too.

"Rick Perry has talked to me at length about this," says McCombs about San Antonio and its bid to land an NFL team. "He gets it."

McCombs adds, "I hear from Rick Perry as much as anyone about this. He's as interested as anyone in how we can pull this off."

McCombs says the NFL and Major League Baseball are now fully aware that Perry has taken an interest in San Antonio's quest to land a second major professional sports franchise.

Perry was unavailable for comment at press time. But a spokesman for the governor says Perry is indeed interested in helping San Antonio become Texas' third NFL city.

"The governor definitely wants to see an NFL team in San Antonio," Ted Royer notes. "He believes it would generate tremendous economic impact and pride in the region."

Asked if the governor would support San Antonio leaders' attempt to bring an NFL team to the Alamo City, Royer says: "He would definitely support it."

What that support could include is unclear at present. Royer says it is too premature to project what Perry might be able to bring to the table.

New outlook

Plenty of critics have questioned the ability of San Antonio to support professional football. Still others wonder if Texas needs a third NFL franchise.


Hardberger and Wolff say the naysayers are confusing the old San Antonio with the new. The governor's office agrees.

Perry's assessment of the Alamo City: "He believes San Antonio can definitely support an NFL franchise," Royer says.

Last season, with speculation building that the hurricane-displaced New Orleans Saints might convert their temporary stay in San Antonio into a permanent relocation, NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue told reporters: "... We're not going to be moving any teams into small markets."

So what does San Antonio have now that it didn't have then? A new NFL commissioner, for one thing.

McCombs says he was surprised by Tagliabue's remarks.

"I thought they were unnecessary and a little unrealistically harsh," he says.

This season, Roger Goodell began his tenure as commissioner of the NFL. McCombs says that's another plus for San Antonio.

"Roger has a very positive outlook about San Antonio -- no question," McCombs insists. "Does that mean Roger will get out front and want a team to relocate? No commissioner wants his league to be disrupted.

"But it does mean we don't have to start off by trying to make up ground."

There is evidence that San Antonio's growth is turning heads in the sports world.


While the Florida Marlins' flirtation with San Antonio has apparently ended, the Major League Baseball club's president, David Samson, says he is impressed with the city.

"You've got leadership here that is committed to making this a major league city," Samson says. "When you have the combination of that leadership and a city that is growing and jobs that are being created and a corporate support base that already exists, you're talking about a major league city."

Big prize

McCombs says it is no small achievement that San Antonio's NFL ambitions are now flanked by top leaders at the city, county and state levels.

"Now the political leaders are out front," McCombs explains. "If you don't have that, it's not going to get done."

He adds, "I truly believe we are in the best situation we have been in since Henry Cisneros was mayor to maybe pull the big prize."

Speaking of Cisneros, could the former mayor, largely responsible for the construction of the Alamodome, still have a part to play in all of this?

"Yes," McCombs says. "Without a doubt. He gets it."

What Chicago and Indianapolis get is some serious Super Bowl excitement and the global media exposure that comes with it.

Could San Antonio one day enjoy the same? Supporters say it is not such a far-fetched dream.

"The population (in San Antonio) is booming. The economy is booming. The area is growing -- toward the Hill Country and into Austin," says Royer about San Antonio. "The timing could not be better."


In the chase to convince a team's owner to pick up his franchise and relocate it elsewhere, it's all about timing.

Just ask the folks in Indianapolis, which lured the Colts away from Baltimore.

Or ask McCombs, who, along with Angelo Drossos, picked the perfect time to pluck a professional basketball team out of Dallas, relocate it to San Antonio and rename it the Spurs.

"The NFL will happen in San Antonio," McCombs says. "When? I don't know. But when it's time for the baby to be born, you have to be ready to receive it.

"That's what we are now -- ready to receive the baby. I think the sports world understands that."

Why the new level of confidence?

Because, McCombs explains, "There are leaders here now who understand the importance of the NFL and are going to try and deliver that for them. We've got some ammunition that we did not have before."