Spurs Group Eyes Alamo Stadium By Lindsay Kastner, San Antonio Express News Spurs Sports & Entertainment Vice President Leo Gomez said Thursday the company will propose bringing a United Soccer Leagues franchise to Alamo Stadium to play 12 to 15 home games, eventually developing it into a Major League Soccer team. “We would work to grow the market and get to that point sooner rather than later,” Gomez said. The proposal would mean keeping the stadium's football field but doing away with the eight-lane track to make room for the pro soccer field. The San Antonio Independent School District, which owns the stadium and the adjacent Convocation Center, begins soliciting partnership concepts for the facilities today http://uslpro.uslsoccer.com/home/491189.html
Re: San Antonio TRIPLE-WOW Why not also use the Rose Bowl, Neyland, Michigan, and Ohio State stadliums for USL-PRO?
Re: San Antonio The Citrus Bowl is going to lower bowl only. somewhere 8-10K I imagine if Spurs get the Alamo Bowl, they will remove the track Move the field toward the endline stands. That would pretty much eliminate the last two sections on each side of stadium, cutting the real cappacity to somewhere around 19K or so. Still huge by D3 standards but not the Rose bowl by any means
Re: San Antonio I am a member of the San Antonio soccer supporters group (Crocketteers) and wrote a piece for the website laying out why this SS&E plan makes a TON of sense... http://www.crocketteers.com/2011/01/07/mls-on-the-san-antonio-horizon-sse-makes-intentions-clear/
Re: San Antonio I will be supporting the NASL/Hartman's San Antonio Scorpions FC. To Hell with the USL. Like always they fail. USL is D3 and need to stop calling themselves D2.
Re: San Antonio At least your reasoning is strong and well-rationed. Seriously...weigh the bids and then choose a side.
Re: San Antonio You gotta realize, eclipse subscribes to the WhiteStarWarriors school of thought. If you ask him, SS&E's attempt to bring soccer to San Antonio is nothing more than an attempt to undermine NASL. He conveniently ignores the fact that SS&E has been working with USL for the past 3 years in buying a franchise. He doesn't let facts get in the way of a good rant. Sunshines out of NASL's every orifice, in his mind.
Re: San Antonio I have ad i support Hartman because i have more faith in the NASL then i do the USL. And to be honest Hartman is a very honest man and is following what Montreal did to get in MLS (Plan wise).
Re: San Antonio Not sure I see your rational on how they are following Montreal's path to MLS? Montreal actually has money behind their bid and big money at that. I wish Hartman luck and think he's done some good things (theme park and soccer park). But I question his finances. He needs the city to pay for his stadium (granted only 8 mil I think) but in turn he's going to give up the land that his two parks stand on. Also, he's looking for the pro team to act as a funding agent for his theme park. As we all know these things don't really make money, and if they do, it's not that much. So I question his overall ability to fund the team ongoing. Just for me, looking at the two orgs / people, SSE has a track record of running teams and sports organizations. And they seem to be better funded.
Re: San Antonio As an outsider looking in, I don't understand why it would take SS&E 3 years+ to buy a franchise. I never even heard of any interest to expand into San Antonio until the NASL group raised their hand. Now there's two competing groups? Smells fishy to me.
Re: San Antonio If you hadn't heard about the Spurs interest, you haven't been following the league that closely.
Re: San Antonio If you're talking about USL, then you're right. Still, why haven't the Spurs "pulled the trigger" by now? I would think if a group like the Spurs were seriously interested in USL, the league would've been promoting the hell out of it, to the extent it would be spilling over into MLS sites, for example. Obviously I'm not there on the ground so this is just an outsider's perspective. I imagine they could be a really strong ownership group.
Re: San Antonio there have been little whispers but they never bothered following through until they lost out to Hartman for an NASL team. Yes the Spurs were one of three groups trying to get an NASL franchise but lost out and ran back to the USL.
Re: San Antonio Hah! I was right. Interesting... so who was the third group? Would they join forces with either Hartman or Spurs?
Re: San Antonio Good question, All i know is that the Spurs were given the opportunity join Hartman but decided not to.
Re: San Antonio I don't remember the Spurs ever trying to get an NASL team. Do you have a source for that? ...and I thought this was a thread about the USL, not the NASL.
From what I have heard the Spurs for the last three years have been working with the USL. They did have a few meetings with the NASL but decided to stick with the longevity of the USL league. The Spurs have always said they needed to have a venue first. Once they can have a venue they will most likely announce they will have a team. No venue, no team. Eclipse 02,when you say Hartman asked the Spurs to join him do you mean as equal partners? I don't think that is what Mr. Hartman had in mind when he said join. It is my understanding Mr. Hartman wants 100% of the proceeds to go to Morgan's Wonderland. He is not looking to split profits with the Spurs. The Spurs see soccer as an opportunity to grow their brand. Both ideas have merit. But have different business philosophies. The third group flirted with both leagues and was close to making a deal with NASL. They were waiting for the fallout between the two leagues when Mr. Hartman bought the NASL rights. They are made up of people with a lot of soccer experience with close ties to MLS. They will be owning a franchise in some other city at a later date.
Thanks for the synopsis. I hope whoever comes out on top of this struggle does the right thing for the fans of San Antonio. I have reservations about both factions.
Re: San Antonio Spurs passed on the NASL. Aaron Davidson/NASL wanted the Spurs but the Spurs didnt want them back. Spurs always wanted USL. They want to secure stadium first and that has always been the hold up. The Spurs are not willing to gamble on an unproven league and thats why they went with the league that has a history (even considering some of it is bad). The Spurs are always calculated in their dealings and because of this they have never folded any of their four sports franchises. KyleBurkholder posted an article on the Scorpions forum concerning Hartmans troubles with MW and STAR. The Spurs have been in the sports business for decades. So right out the gate, the Scorpions have a lot of weight on their shoulders to financially support the needs of MW/STAR as the article Kyle posted shows. The Spurs most likely realize they can lose 5 seasons as they have lost on their other teams (Rampage). Let's not be foolish, Hartman knew he was going up against the Spurs from when he first started talking to NASL. He just decided to announce a team before securing a venue. Spurs are doing the opposite. Speaking of factions... Which faction do you think can get us to the promised land (MLS)?
Re: San Antonio That's because Spurs were never trying to get a NASL franchise even though eclipse02 incorrectly stated it as fact. NASL did try to court the Spurs. Spurs always set on USL.
Re: San Antonio Here is what we know: USL is playing this coming year. They have teams that have stadiums and they will play minor-league soccer all over the US - and in many markets that are aspiring MLS markets. Eclipse02 may be a NASL fanboy, but they currently aren't sanctioned. So what's the point? This is a USL board. Let's talk USL Expansion (and that means SS&E's attempts to land a team). I can't wait for SS&E to be approved to play in Alamo Stadium - I will chant that all day long. KB