San Antonio: One Team, Two Teams, or No Teams? NASL or USL?
“Victory or Death.” That’s the slogan on the shield of the Crocketteers, a soccer supporters group in San Antonio, Texas. Those words are said to belong to William Travis as his group prepared to defend the Alamo. But they could also be the words of two sparring soccer leagues as they both try to claim the San Antonio area as their own.
“San Antonio is a great market,” said Steve Arters, a spokesperson for the Crocketteers. “It’s the 7th largest city in the U.S. (1,373,668). We also have a wonderful mix of cultures which will make it a terrific football/soccer market.”
The Crocketteers were founded in 2009 and are a highly organized soccer supporters group that gained tremendous momentum during the 2010 World Cup when they signed up nearly 500 supporters with 260 paid memberships.
While San Antonio is the 7th largest city, it’s only the 28th largest metropolitan area which may make the area perfect for Division II or Division III soccer. Currently the city has no pro soccer teams. But the situation in San Antonio is more than a little confusing, even if you’re a resident of the Texas city and even if you’re a follower of soccer in North America.
In recent months two different ownership groups have been talking about professional soccer in the area. The two entities are Spurs Sports & Entertainment better known as SS&E and who have affiliated themselves with the United Soccer Leagues (USL). The other is Gordon Hartman, a Texas businessman who made his claim to fame in the South Texas area as a home builder and developer. Hartman has purchased rights to a North American Soccer League (NASL) franchise which is scheduled to play in the 2012 season, replacing the Montreal Impact who will move to MLS that year. In fact, the San Antonio franchise is in the application the NASL submitted to the USSF to get approval to be the sanctioned league for D II soccer in the U.S.
Sports fans will know SS&E as the owners of the San Antonio Spurs. But they also own the Austin Toros of the NBA Development League, the San Antonio Rampage of the American Hockey League, and the San Antonio Silver Stars of the WNBA. SS&E also own the AT&T Center.
SS&E is owned by Peter M. Holt who is believed to have a net worth of over $80 million and his companies have a belief of investing in the communities they live and work in.
Hartman is believed to have no problem reaching the ownership qualifications for the U.S. Soccer’s D2 standards by having a net worth of over $20 million. Hartman also has a reputation as a philanthropist. Last spring he opened Morgan’s Wonderland, a 25-acre amusement park built specially for the disabled. He has a 17-year-old daughter (Morgan) with disabilities. Five years ago he sold his business to spend more time with her and found himself devoting himself to this one-of-a-kind theme park. Hartman also developed STAR (South Texas Area Regional) Soccer Complex adjacent to the site which was built to bring in money to help fund the $33 million Morgan’s Wonderland.
According to a recent USL press release, SS&E has focused significant time and energy during the past two years exploring the establishment of a USL professional league soccer franchise in San Antonio and possess rights to field a USL PRO team for the 2012 season.
“SS&E is one of the premier sports and entertainment companies in the world.” said USL President Tim Holt in a press release concerning the USL’s Annual General Meeting held in mid November. “They have achieved success in all of their professional sporting ventures and understand that a reliable, stable, and sustainable league is necessary for teams to attain their objectives. We are confident that they can play a leading role in the future development of USL PRO and our continued efforts to make it the strongest, most competitive, and best operated league in the United States below MLS.”
While it’s been public knowledge for some time that SS&E owned the rights to a USL franchise, the information concerning the Spurs took nearly one-third of that USL AGM press release even though it never said definitively if the Spurs would actually field a team in 2012. Also, SS&E purchased those rights when the USL was the only game in town. In other words, before the NASL challenged the USL to sanctioning rights to Division II soccer.
So why the strong reaction from USL when there was plenty of other positive things going on at their AGM to write about?
“It’s a deliberate move by the USL to make San Antonio the battleground,” said Chris Hockman
Hockman is a native Australian who finds himself living in San Antonio and writes soccer articles for the San Antonio Examiner.com. He says soccer supporters in San Antonio had thought the Spurs USL franchise was out of the picture, but after the November press release by the USL it surprised everyone and they now seem to be back on the table.
Indeed, it did seem as if the USL fired a warning salvo at the NASL who had released a statement in early October that San Antonio would field a team in their league for the 2012 season under the ownership of Gordan Hartman.
“SS&E have long held the rights to a USL team in San Antonio, and their lack of movement on the matter is part of the reason it has taken San Antonio so long to get a team,” continued Hockman. “They’ve now suddenly ramped up discussions about a team in USL PRO. It’s method gamesmanship because Hartman has forced the Spurs’ hand by coming out of nowhere. So the Spurs announce they are still actively looking at a team. So it seems it’s now up to Hartman to start making some announcements as to what his plans are for the team.”
“I think it’s interesting that we didn’t have professional soccer here four months ago and now there’s a potential of having two teams coming in,” said Arters. “It makes for a really interesting dynamic.”
Arters says the Crocketteers’ goal is to bring the highest level of soccer in the country to San Antonio. “In the U.S. that’s MLS,” said Arters, who chooses his words carefully not to alienate one side or another. “Until we can achieve that we are putting our full support behind NASL and if developments warrant, then a USL PRO franchise. Many in our group were the first to purchase NASL season tickets for the 2012 season. But we are also closely monitoring the SS&E efforts.”
Hockman says he knows the Spurs can run sports franchises, they’ve won awards for it. He doesn’t know for sure how Hartman will do if he gets his soccer franchise up and running. However, with Hartman’s track record he’s confident the Texas businessman can run a club as well. But he still has concerns about both sides.
“They both still have to get it up and off the ground,” said Hockman. “And that’s the hardest thing for any professional club isn’t it?”
But Arters points to an issue that seems to be the crux of the problem for both organizations. “They don’t have a venue to play in yet,” explained Arters. “They are both working on that major piece of the puzzle.”
Overhead image of Alamo Stadium
SS&E’s plan seems to revolve around Alamo Stadium which is currently owned by the San Antonio Independent School District. It’s a 23,000 seat stadium built in 1940 which is badly in need of repairs. It has an artificial surface with American football lines and surrounded by a track. SS&E would like to take over the facility, according to Arters and Hockman.
“It does have a great location,” said Arters. “It’s on (highway) 281 which is the major thoroughfare from the northeast going downtown.”
“They (SS&E) will share it with the high school but they want to own it,” said Hockman. “There really hasn’t been much work done on it since the 1940s. It’s really terrible. The Spurs are basically saying if we come along and fix it up we want to own it and then you can use it when we don’t have events planned. But that doesn’t really go over with the public very well. The Spurs toyed with the idea of ripping up the artificial pitch and putting in grass, but there’s no way the school district would allow them to do that because the maintenance cost on it would be huge.”
Hockman also said he expects that SS&E would want to use the stadium for other outdoor events as well as soccer.
In April of 2009, Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News interviewed SS&E’s Holt who stated, “We think soccer can work in San Antonio, it’s just a question of when. And right now is not when. The county or the city doesn’t have the money. Maybe something could eventually be worked out with a school district. But right now, with this economic situation, there isn’t going to be any public money for anything anywhere.”
“We think the USL, at least with the numbers we’ve run, could work here in a smaller stadium,” Holt also said in that same interview. But so far Alamo is the only stadium they have proposed.
IMS contacted Leo Gomez, who is SS&E’s Vice President Of Public & Government Affairs. He was asked about the large size of Alamo when a USL PRO team would most likely average between 1,000 and 4,000 fans. He did not respond to the question but did expound on SS&E’s current situation.
“Spurs Sports and Entertainment is indeed keeping its options open regarding professional soccer and we continue to monitor the ongoing developments in that world,” said Gomez. “We are committed to bringing the best level of soccer below the MLS to San Antonio in the near future, and perhaps the MLS some day.”
Gomez’ mention of MLS is not the first time SS&E have talked of the league. In that same San Antonio Express-News interview SS&E’s Holt stated his organization “couldn’t make the numbers work” for MLS at the Alamodome, a 65,000 seat multi-purpose stadium where the Spurs played for 10 years before getting public funding from Bexar County to help build AT&T Center, the Spurs’ new home. But that’s when Holt was looking for free rent from the school district, then-mayor Ed Garza couldn’t get enough support to make that happen.
“We think the location and quality of a venue will play greatly in the potential for success and in that regard continue with our efforts to find a suitable venue,” said Gomez. “As for SAISD and Alamo Stadium, their $515 million bond issue was just passed overwhelmingly including $35 million for the stadium and convocation center. The District is obviously busy setting up internal project management and the Citizens Bond Oversight Committee – which is exactly where their priorities should be at this time. Whether or not our conversations resume regarding Alamo Stadium is up to SAISD. They will let us know if or when they are ready. SS&E’s main interest was in ensuring the bond passed and doing what was in the best interest of the students in this large inner city school district. The school district, by the way, in which the AT&T Center happens to be located.”
STAR Soccer Complex
Hartman’s plans are a bit simpler but still call on public monies to make them happen. He wants to build a stadium on the STAR Soccer Complex right next to Morgan’s Wonderland. It would be expandable but start as a 5,400 seat stadium and some accounts say he wanted to break ground in the first quarter of 2011, a time frame that seems highly unlikely.
Arters and Hockman both agree that while not quite as well located as Alamo Stadium, the STAR Soccer Complex stadium would also be good choice. Arters stating it’s in the northeast part of the city and by the airport and Hockman saying there would be a benefit by being a soccer-specific-stadium with real grass in a soccer complex.
There is one troubling issue with Hartman’s purchasing of an NASL franchise, his connection to soccer and the STAR stadium. “The reason I built STAR is I needed an avenue to help try to raise money to help deal with the deficit of Morgan’s Wonderland,” Hartman told IMS. “Because we let those who have special needs in free. My thought was to use soccer as a business mechanism to help fund Morgan’s Wonderland. One hundred percent of all the money we make at STAR Soccer Complex and money we make from the pro team in 2012 will go to fund Morgan’s Wonderland.”
Gordon Hartman
Indeed, Hartman has even named the project Soccer for a Cause complete with its own website. However, those in touch with Division II soccer understand the profits Hartman talks about are few and far between with most teams losing, not making money. Those losses usually fall somewhere between $500 thousand to $1.5 million a year. Even NASL CEO Aaron Davidson recently said in an interview that his teams lose on average 7 figures a year.
“I hear what you’re saying about soccer teams not making a profit,” said Hartman. “I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t think I could. However, I will tell you that I’ve looked at a lot of teams that don’t make a profit and I’ve met with a lot of owners that don’t make a profit. But a lot of things that get in their way are things that we think we can do a whole lot better and differently here.”
“I know people question that and have questioned a lot of my business opportunities but I retired at 41 so I think I know business pretty well,” continued Hartman who says he only needs 3,500 fans per game to make a profit. “I don’t mean that in a cocky way. Could I be wrong? The answer is yes. Analytically we think we can make it work.”
“We control our own venue. A lot of the people you would need in a front office already work for me, so I don’t need to reproduce double staffing. I have a lot of that infrastructure in place that I’m already paying. I can cut cost and make it work.
Last year the National Sports Center, a non-profit organization who ran the NSC Minnesota Stars and had been very successful in past endeavors, said they only needed 2,500 tickets sold per game to make a profit and stated they would save money because they already had staff on-site, lost so much money that in August they announced they were looking for investors or new owners after only five months of play.
“No one pulled the wool over his eyes,” said Aaron Davidson in regard to Hartman. “I actually showed him every single team’s numbers. I’ve challenged him but at the end of the day he’s the right guy in San Antonio and he’s got the right people behind him. If we’re going to ratchet this thing up towards MLS standards then we’re going to have to diversify ownerships. There are some really interesting guys attached to San Antonio beyond him (Hartman). He’s intentionally not opening up to capital yet. So there’s a real opportunity there.”
“Look, we know who we are,” continued Davidson. “We just got provisionally sanctioned. It’s really, really hard to get the right ownership mix at a league level and a team level until you have something you can sell and I mean really sell. The Edmonton and San Antonio people are people who believe in what we stand for and the structure of our league.”
Davidson also said Hartman has consulted with Michael Hitchcock from Playbook Management International (PMI) to make sure the area has the numbers so Hartman can attain the numbers he wants to start making a profit on the team. Davidson said PMI has been contracted to provide team services to all the NASL teams in 2011, helping them with ticket sales and marketing.
“The Federation will laugh at anyone who thinks they’re going to make money right away and we will too,” said Davidson. “He’s got the net worth, I’ve seen it and he’s committed for multiple years. We also have to trust in a guy like Michael Hitchcock who’s already done a lot of good for the league.”
Hartman says his plans for the stadium should be complete within 30 to 60 days and that he’s taking into account things he needs to do in that stadium to bring about revenue other than just selling tickets. “There are a lot of other things you could do to generate money and we will do that,” explained Hartman.
What happens after his stadium plans are finished? “We do need public funding to make the move to the next step,” admitted Hartman. Asked what happens if he doesn’t get public funding, Hartman simply answered, “I don’t know. Right now I’m just focused on getting the public funding.”
Hockman says he feels the Spurs organization has done a good job of running their minor league teams, but he knows soccer purists who have been involved with the sport their whole lives and are opposed to having an NBA team operate a soccer team as a second thought. But he says the majority of people are in that middle where they don’t really care which side ends up fielding a team as long as they get pro soccer in San Antonio.
Hockman recently penned an article titled, “Could San Antonio have two teams?” But the transplanted Aussie says San Antonians know the answer to that question and it’s the one thing everyone seems to agree on.
“Absolutely one-hundred percent of the people agree that it’s mutual self destruction if both teams happen,” concluded Hockman.
Arters said that although the Crocketteers are excited with all the talk of pro soccer in San Antonio, they know there’s still much to be resolved before that can become a reality.
“I think what you see is an awful lot of pieces that still have to fall into place before we get too far ahead of ourselves,” warned Arters.
That next “piece” may have already happened. On Thursday, December 16, the San Antonio City Council approved a joint feasibility study with Bexar County to determine the future of professional sports in the area. They hope to have three companies whittled down to one by early January who will then look at the future of sports in the San Antonio area, both short and long term.
“We’re hoping this study lends light on the viability of any professional sports coming here in the short term or the long term,” said Michael Sculley, director of the county’s Community Venues Program Office. “If there is a viable chance of something, what is it?”
The soccer question “is on the front-burner,” said Jim Mery, the city’s assistant director of convention, sports and entertainment facilities. The city employee says the study will look at both Gordon Hartman’s and Spurs Sports & Entertainment’s proposals.
Comments are closed.
I am just flabbergasted by the depth of reporting on this piece. San Antonio has been a question in mind over the feasibility of creating a team out of nothing before 2012. Well done, man, well done.
This is brilliant. I am concerned about Hartman’s rush to profitability and I hope more teams open their books to him so he can see what he is up against. That being said, I wish him the best of success.
Rehabbing a stadium built in 1940 is a bad idea. Doesn’t look like an “intimate” facility that soccer in the US is looking for. That alone could kill SSA’s budget.
Good luck San Antonio!
Good article Brian. At one time the Crocketteers just wanted a team to call their own. It may be their will be two teams that want to call SA home. Thanks for keeping us informed on D2/D3 soccer in the US. It is greatly appreciated.
I worry about the future of the theme park he looks to help if this fails. The amount of fans who will wait for MLS is a big factor in the crockteers, but 200+ paying members looks really good.
BQ, while I would second the applause on the work, the subject brings up much to consider. Hartman is not SSE and he thinks he can do something better than other, more well established teams.
I am fully behind his vision with his philanthropic venture. His publicy stated purposed that the soccer team business will fund this venture is completely unrealistic.
I hope he does not throw out the baby with the bath water…..
…and Soccer By Ives wins the best soccer blog?
*yawn*
Good work.
This whole “long term” language bothers me, not because of it’s soothing intent, but because it whispers huge initial losses.
I do not understand why these owners take hit after hit, when spending a large amount on terrific marketing would actually cost less in the big picture. I work at a giant printing company and I have seen massive advertising campaigns underway.
Shove the label (whether it be NASL, USL Pro, invidual teams, ownership, etc…) down your target demographic’s throat, while smiling and telling them it (label) is already huge and popular, and how have they managed to miss the boat on this, and that they need to spend their money and catch up with the big and latest sports trend or feel left behind.
Once a group gets the go ahead in San Antonio, then I hope they can teach the rest of the NASL or USL Pro how to market big and effectively.
Brian, I’m going to be in San Antonio in a couple of weeks. Let me know if there is any pot stirring you want me to do. Utilize my strength to your advantage.
Great work.
Brian, this is an incredibly well-done and exhaustive piece. As a former San Antonio resident who used to live right near Alamo Stadium, I can say it would be a crying shame if it were left to just rot. The building is a beautiful, historic WPA-era structure and would be a wonderful and centrally-located stadium. It’s a perfect size as well.
That being said, the thing is that it needs a whole lot of money to renovate, money that everyone wants someone else to spend.
I love that city, but it is not a major league sports place, the Spurs notwithstanding, for a variety of socioeconomic and other reasons. However, San Antonio is perfect for lower division sports. I really hope Hartman gets that up and running as soon as he can. It would just figure that the USL and NASL would be in a battle in SA. The more I see this sort of thing, the more I am disinclined to supoprt the USL in any endeavor. How nice would it be if one day we were to wake up and Sunil Gulati would show a little leadership and kick USL out of this picture entirely. Puppies and rainbows for everyone!
BQ,
Thanks for the extensive work you put into this article. We in San Antonio and in particular the Crocketteers are appreciative of this.
I point people to this article to get up to speed on the current situation here in San Antonio.
We will be sure to update you with local information as it relates to the subject at hand.
Much Thanks!
Michael Macias
Founder of the Crocketteers
Thanks everyone for the kind and encouraging words.
Nice work Brian!
One only needs to look at the poor leadership under the USSF/US Soccer to see this nonsense coming. They cannot seem to unite the bottom of the North American soccer pyramid so this was always going to happen. Our sport does not need a civil war fought anywhere, much less a potential MLS city. US Soccer & Gulati – as always do nothing.
PS: great reporting Brian, keep it up!
NASL vs. USL = Two blind beggars fighting over a crumb. Which of course they will step on and go hungry. I can’t think of a worse time in minor league soccer. And the USSF does nothing about it. Rome burns while they fiddle.
What’s scary is both groups seem delusional. But I’ll throw my hat in with SS&E since they seem slightly less kooky and have an actual track record, albeit not in soccer. And it’s much easier to run with USL’s D3 standards.
You could already start a death watch with Hartman’s club if it ever gets off the ground. He wants it to fund his themepark in an economy when almost no minor league soccer clubs OR themeparks are making money? I applaud him for making a themepark for kids with special needs, but I question what happened to his business knowledge it he thinks a minor league soccer club, which LOSE money, can fund it. It makes zero sense.
Everything about the NASL doesn’t pass the smell test with investors like Hartman and Traffic owning much of the league. I hope the USSF holds their feet to the fire since I can’t imagine them ever “really” making D2 standards. Not when part of their bid for sanctioning was this SA club and Hartman. It’s a joke.
@thesuperrookie – As good as the work this blog does, there is little interest in American minor league soccer. It’s a niche of a niche.
Excellent piece! Some typos but better than most of the Express News and mySA writing no doubt. Make that 99.99% don’t want 2 teams. Every time I think of soccer in San Antonio I imagine how it’s gonna be a racial issue. Chivas, America, Morelias & Jaguares jerseys abound in this town but few Dynamo or FC Dallas fans exist. Exploit the subtle differences and we could have an awesome derby here all in good fun. Best situation would then see one team go MLS and the other go into the Mexican Liga. If possible some businessperson should seriously consider that.
The fact that the USL brass can’t seem to break free of this fit of bitterness and attempted retribution has been painfully clear since the release of their AGM press announcement. Spending over half of it talking about a city where they have no team, but “coincidentally” was just awarded an NASL franchise was…peculiar at best. Toss in the fact that they went out of their way to mention Ft. Lauderdale as a potential expansion city previsou to that (I forget if it was the Orlando or Rochester announcement), and it seems obvious to me that the USL is spending far too much time continuing to try and wipe out the NASL rather than just focusing on their own situation.
The way things are stacking up, SA is a win/win for USL. Even if they put a team there that fails after just one season, most likely it will do so while bringing down the NASL side along with it. And since USL will already have collected their expansion fee, and they don’t actually NEED the SA market to keep their league running in 2012, but the NASL does, then I’m certain that is all that matters to Holt and Papdakis.
I agree 100% that Hartman seems a bit deluded to think he is going to be able to operate a D2 soccer team and not only keep from losing money, but somehow actually make enough profit to fund what is an incredibly wonderful project like Morgan’s Wonderland. Even if he is a much smarter businessman then anyone else who has ever owned a D2 soccer team in America, I still can’t figure out how he is going to make that happen. Maybe he’s hoping someone else will step in and help back the whole set up with him.
Bottom line is this – there is a long running history of cities that were unable to support a minor league soccer team in this country, despite looking like they probably could. There is absolutely no way in the world that ANY city is going to be able to support TWO minor league pro soccer clubs. It just isn’t going to work. And like I said, I think that is perfectly fine with Holt and Company. SS&E should be very careful about who they’re getting involved with and what their real motivations are.
How can we have 4 levels of pro hockey in this country with several teams in Florida (we don’t have ice outside the arenas) and many teams make money with very little support from NHL. Heck, the Pesacola Icepilots draw 2145 for twice as many games as USSF Div 2 at ticket prices the same as the Rowdies. But we are worried that in a city of 1 plus million we can’t support a Div. 2 and a Div. 3 team together? Indoor Lacrosse and the Lingerie Football League do better than most of the soccer teams. Maybe the way we market this isn’t working. Let’s give Mr. Hartman a chance. If he is smart he’ll run a Spanish language team and make money.
I agree on most of what you said but what exactly is a Spanish language team?
What are the Crocketeers going to do if SS&E decides to go ahead and compete for soccer dollars in the SA market? Are they going to support both teams? Are they going to pick one? If so, which one? Which side has a better shot at getting their stadium situation resolved? Hartman is asking for $8 million in public funding. That seems a far cry smaller then what SS&E would probably need to ask for to fix up Alamo Stadium right?
I just don’t understand the logic of USL. You move a team that had a growing fanbase out of Austin blaming travel costs as a key reason, then you come up with the set up of multiple Caribbean teams, and 1 lone west coast team. They say they hope more will change their minds and move up or join out west next year I guess. Austin isn’t all that close to California, but it’s a hell of a lot closer than Orlando.
What would be smart, as well as best for the overall strength of the game in that area of the country, would probably be to put a D3 squad back in Austin if they can get more western or midwest teams to move up to D3 from PDL next year. Enough with the trying to cut NASL off at the knees to satisfy a few bruised egos. How does it help soccer in this country at all besides putting big fat smiles on the faces of Holt, Papdakis, and Marcos? I understand what Fiji is saying, but show me some long term examples of how multiple minor league pro soccer teams coexisted in the same city. Soccer isn’t a big enough sport in this country with enough of a hard core following to support that in my opinion. If USL forces the issue in SA somehow, the only way I see one even one of the teams surviving is if the supporters group guides the fanbase to one over the other.
The PR Islanders have a spanish language web site and the games are broadcast in spanish. The FC TB team has, in my opinion, done a rotten job of getting any word out to the 50,000 spanish speakers who live within 4 miles of the baseball field that the Rowdies called home last year. Billboards in Spanish, a tilt towards that ethnic group, that is what I mean by a spanish team. A Univision team? If we are talking getting 4,000 fans to break even and the Latin American/Mexican teams draw well and sell lots of shirts in your town, you should reach out to them. Viva Escorpion!
OK, with that comment I can agree. I always cringe when I hear my brethren gringos talk about all the Latino’s fans a team should bring in if they are located near the southern boarder of the US. It just doesn’t work that way as you well understand. You need Latino’s in the front office (which Miami FC has) and market specifically to that population. Too many people, including soccer management have thought for too long that if you throw a couple of Latino’s on the team or African’s in a heavily African populated area, that market will just show up at games. It’s almost embarrassing how naive that is.
All of you who think that San Antonio is a potential MLS city are kidding yourself. Since US Soccer can’t even figure out a viable D2 structure there will be no fluidity between a second division and the MLS for at least another 5-10 years, if ever. And with Montreal joining the MLS in 2012, that gives them 20 teams and they will not be looking to expand after that. San Antonio is out of luck. On a side note, FC Dallas has one of the worst attendance records in the MLS so why would the MLS want to bring a THIRD team to Texas when they can’t even support the teams that they currently have?
Kyle,
Montreal will be the 19th team. MLS is still looking for their 20th team. All indications seem to point to a 2nd team in NY, the Cosmos who Garber seems to be very impressed with.
For a short period of time Garber said he would go to 20 teams and that was that. But recently there has been talk of more expansion. The question is where should that expansion be and how long should they wait. Observing this years MLS SuperDraft and with the expansion of two teams and with the reserve teams back in the picture, I started to get the feeling that already we may be over saturating ourselves in the form of MLS teams to quality players that are coming into the leagues. I guess that time will tell on that one. But for sure, Garber is looking beyond 20 but no one really knows when or how long. However, you can bet your life if a D2 team started drawing Portland or Montreal numbers and showed the passion of the Timbers Army or the Montreal Ultras, the MLS Commissioner would be seriously talking to that team.
One more thing, I have observed several discussion boards in San Antonio recently and had a Twitter discussion with someone from San Antonio who all seem to think they are a shoe-in for MLS and they don’t need to support whatever lower division team they end up with. If you really think that I would recommend reading the account of Mr. Garbers conversation with the Miami Ultras this past weekend. I don’t think MLS is going to go planting any teams anywhere without thinking long and hard about it and watching to see what sort of support the locals give to local soccer and how the media coverage for soccer is in the town. TV ratings for sports are also important. Can they get the revenues from a local TV deal which of course is all advertising driven.