By suggesting NFL could have come to SA. Yeah, right. Great. Clear Channel's working against it. Red McCombs is working to kill the deal. SA folks, can you tell me anything hopeful? 'Cause you got some really big money guys lined up solidy against this thing and doing their best to ruin it.
Poor baby McCombs, did Garza piss on your purple helmet? You mean he didn't jump at the chance to spend thousands of tax dollars wooing a team that would never be allowed to move?
Follow the money trail on this one. Soccer does hinder McComb's chances of getting the NFL to SA. The good thing that SA has for it is a mayor that can wield a lot of political power on this one. If the money guys start playing hard ball with the mayor then I am afraid the MLS will die in SA.
I seem to remember when McCombs bought the land at Ratama in San Antonio(or he did something with the land/fields at Ratama) we had high hopes he'd do something to improve the youth soccer fields there; instead, he helped turn them into a wasteland (they have to be the worst fields in Texas.) He has no interest in soccer at all (he was even asked about it at the time, from what I recall). So I guess he's staying true to his colors.
What kills me about this country is from talking to friends and reading articles like this the perception in this country that soccer(futbol)is a a attack on Gridiron(Football).Why does it have to be one or the other?I love sports but the NFL seems to want a monopoly on all sports in this counrty.What's more perplexing is the media seems to go along with it blindly like they have been sipping the kool aid.
It's all bluff. It's all McComb's BS. key quote Not only is there NO guarantee!....There is no mention in the article of HOW MUCH is NLF asking in the way of $$$ to bring the stadium. This whole article is a just a way to use the Alamodome as an excuse to p*** on Mayor Garza. And Garza hits the head on the nail when he is quoted: The Spurs were there for 10 years and then they moved to SBC center. The NFL ain't gonna be using no Alamodome. They will only use it if SA ponies up about $100 at mininum for a new brand new stadium. It ain't gonna happen. If this was the case, we would be talkin' about the SA Oilers/Titans.
I disagree as far as soccer hindering NFL in SA. There's been quite a bit of question as to whether larger businesses in SA would put up money for tickets and sponsorship. If there isn't much money to begin with, and MLS takes even some of what's out there, then there isn't much left for NFL. Granted, if the NFL did decide to show up, MLS would lose a lot of its sponsorhips. But splitting like that would make it harder for an NFL team. The biggest problem for the NFL in SA to my mind is that the market just isn't big enough. (Though don't ask me how Carolina has a team). I'd have to think that the city having spent millions already on the Alamodome and then getting left without a team would make them more than gunshy about the NFL. But I guess not. Football is holy in Texas. Regarding money guys and hardball, I have to totally agree with you on that. That's why I'm seriously concerned that this one is already dead in the water, with McCombs and Clear Channel voicing obvious objections to it.
You and I know that. But the article is 3 pages of a McCombs whine against MLS and the mayor with the mayor's very valid point dropped in with little weight. The mayor may be right, but the article doesn't seem to believe him. Which is sad. Which is why I can't help but wonder if this is too steep a hill for a lame duck mayor and MLS. Garber (in today's SA EN article) says that he was surprised at the negativity. Tells me that they haven't really researched the city that well. Now, I'm generally unhappy with the criticisms I'm seeing. But on the 'I can be understanding' side, I have to remind myself (actually, someone on these boards mentioned it) that SA was burned by both the WLAF and CFL. By 'burned', I mean, the teams/leagues failed. I'd have to check the history on the leagues and the franchises to understand a bit better what happened. But the details don't matter to the media and those asking the tough questions about MLS. To their eye, this is another league likely to fail like the last two, because it's not the NFL. Which won't fail. (oh, they'll move teams? what? I can't hear you.)
San Antonio is dreaming if they think they could get the NFL. Hell, that town only cares about the Cowboys. Any NFL team that would come would be the second team behind Dallas. San Antonio is its own worst enemy, screwing up its MLS chances. I hope those cabrones don't F this up.
These whiney billionaires make me sick. If McCombs is so interested in seeing the NFL in his hometown, he should spend some of his $1.1 billion to make it happen. The guy's 77 years old, after all. What's he going to do with his $1 billion when he's dead?
"We think this relationship with the MLS, with Lamar Hunt, with the owner of the New England Patriots (Robert Kraft, who also owns the MLS New England Revolution), we're opening up eyes to other NFL owners about what San Antonio can offer," Garza says. "That's why I think soccer has to be successful here. Maybe I'm looking at this too closely, but has he been talking about moving the Revs to SA? They are not the franchise they once were, and I'm not aware of Kraft wanting to move/sell the Revs.
Red next April when I at the season opener it will give me great pleasure to know that you will not get one penny from any beverage or food items I will be consuming as I watch San Antonio's MLS team -and I would ask all San Antonio soccer fans to boycott Red's automotive dealerships
Actually, I believe with this deal MLS will get most or all of the money from concessions at the Alamodome.
-Carolina has an NFL team because Charlotte politicians are willing to close police stations & schools and turn over tax money to a billionaire NFL owner & his millionaire players. -Say what you will about LA & its residents, but at least they aren't stupid enough to turn over part of their paychecks to NFL players & owners. Wake Island would have a team if the seagulls were willing to spend a billion on a retractable-roof stadium with lots of luxury boxes.
Dude, if you could pull off a meaningful boycott of Red's dealerships, I'd put you up for a spot in the soccer Hall of Fame.
McCombs and Garza in the EN. Actually a very nice article, I think. McCombs doesn't sound as obstructive as he did in the Business article. And Garza has very nice counter arguments.
That is my point - MLS gets all the money! When Red owned the Spurs he got all the money. There are two things that chapped Red's hide. First he can no longer use San Antonio as a threat to get a better stadium deal for the Vikings and two the dome consession contract has slipped through his fingers. I am sure, if he could have he would have brought an inferior product (areana football?) to the dome to tie up the consession contract. The fact that the dome does not currently have an anchor tennant makes the whole deal attractive to MLS. It is not about atmosphere it is about revenue streams and under the proposed deal MLS gets 'em all. I can't wait till April.
I dont think it is possible. But Red should think about this right now he is thought of as just another greedy NFL owner, Lamar Hunt is a Saint to soccer fans, why some name their children after him. Red is 78 years old he ought to be thinking about his legacy and embrace MLS San Antonio, if he did I would name my dog after him (I am done having children)
All this is true looking back at the past, but hasn't McCombs agreed recently to sell the Vikings? He probably doesn't care anymore about making threats using SA. But he may be sore over not being able to in the past.
Unfortunately, I think McCombs has part of it right. Just because someone plays a sport doesn't mean they become a fan of it. Any soccer team that bases its business plan on the belief that all of the youth players are going to come streaming into the stadium isn't going to make it. It takes hard work to create youth fans...beginning with getting the adults into seats (or standing in some crazy assed barra section) and then spreading that booster enthusiasm to their kids.
Yeah, he actually had good arguments, rather than the whiny ones he had in the SA Business News article.