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In the wake of the announcement earlier this week with the announcement of expansion bidders in Major League Soccer including San Antonio, it becomes only natural to start weighing San Antonio’s bid against the other 11 contenders for four upcoming expansion slots.
And if we are to believe the thinking of several soccer-specific websites, the local bid will be facing long odds in its pursuit of one of the teams.
Recently, the league revealed a list of 10 markets vying to be awarded one of the four slots that will take league membership to 28. Two other cities, Phoenix and Indianapolis, joined as late entrants.
Planet Futbol, a niche blog associated with SI.com, produced a lengthy group of profiles among several of the finalists. Two of the markets will be announced by next fall.
It praised the success of Spurs Sports and Entertainment and the value it would provide the MLS with association of one of the pre-eminent franchises in professional sports.
The city’s growing population and proximity to Austin also were hailed as potential selling points.
But the story mentioned the extreme competition from other markets that are much larger than San Antonio and who have more plans for more elaborate stadiums than the local bid. The city’s hopes were simply stated in the story when it mentioned that “it’ll have to wow the league.”
The story also wonders whether the MLS would be interested in three Texas teams, but said a potential Texas Triangle series could become the state’s answer to the wildly popular Cascadia Cup in the Pacific Northwest that has included competition from the Portland Timbers, Seattle Sounders and Vancouver Whitecaps.
The Planet Futbol piece also quotes MLS commissioner Don Garber about San Antonio’s chances.
“I think it starts with the recent engagement of the Spurs, their entertainment holding company and their expressed interest on bringing MLS to San Antonio,” Garber said. “I have had a good relationship and spent a great deal of time with Gordon Hartman, and have really a great deal of respect for what he’s done to both the community and to bring the team to—bring [the Scorpions] to the city. But more needs to happen. I think the Spurs are focused on trying to do that. We know that the city and county officials have worked on getting together on Toyota Field. We are spending time with them and met with them a number of times and continue to be intrigued as we are by the activity and potential in Austin.”
CBS Sports.com also has a list examining the positives and negatives of each expansion contender and includes a video touting San Antonio’s bid.
But the story speculates that early favorites appear to be Cincinnati, San Diego and St. Louis.
Local bidders’ quest over the next year will be to prove San Antonio is a good market to the most important audience — the league itself.
Tgriffin@express-news.net
Twitter: @TimGriffinBig12
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