Not sure if everyone who is commenting on this thread has checked out the podcast interview we did with Gordon Hartman on Monday night. That interview is now up and is pretty interesting. Check it out.

http://www.insidemnsoccer.com/2012/06/11/nasl-podcast-episode-35-with-special-guest-gordon-hartman-owner-of-the-san-antonio-scorpions/

@Andrew,
Yes, San Antonio might be the 7th largest “city” in the country, but it is the 24th largest metropolitan area (which is what truly matters). To put this in perspective, so are you saying that San Antonio is twice as big as San Francisco and bigger than Dallas?
I do agree that they are more than capable of becoming a major soccer city and the success of the Spurs is proof that they can easily support a top level club.

Population Comparison

As of 2012, I’m almost certain that the population for San Antonio is over 2 million, that makes SA the seventh largest city in the United States. Yes, you are correct six games does not prove anything. However, need I remind you, before San Antonio ever played a game, the same argument was stated and look where they are now.

Outside of soccer, the ‘market’ has proven itself to be stable given the success the NBA has had in San Antonio. One more professional franchise can be supported.

To Kel’s point, I absolutely agree, the MLS does need to get involved. My argument only makes sense, in terms of an MLS club. For the NASL, I think you’re right, it will bottom out, especially if winning also trends downward which is something a lot of people expected to happen. So I’ll give it to the Scorpions for proving a lot of people wrong, but they still have a lot to do. I feel that it will take the MLS to awaken this sleeping giant.

Thoughts?

Remember, Hartman is going to be getting a lot of bills soon. The money from the budget Hartman gave the Scorpions will have to come from somewhere. Here is where owning a minor league soccer team sucks.

And no way does the city get behind a plan for a 20k upgrade unless MLS is involved. And probably not even then.

20k would be bigger than stadiums in Denver, Kansas City and Philadelphia and only New York and LA would be substantially larger among MLS stadiums.

And there are a limited number of friendlies and qualifiers for the US and a great many stadiums capable of hosting them. The last 58 US men’s games on home soil (including the two upcoming qualifiers) have been played at exactly 27 stadiums. 38 of the games have been played in huge NFL/college type stadiums, and of the 19 played in MLS-sized SSSs, almost half have been at the Home Depot Center.

San Antonio wouldn’t be hugely likely to get a whole lot of national team games, just like most stadiums in this country don’t get a whole lot of national team games.

I’m glad that San Antonio’s done a redesign on their stadium (though I wonder at the intelligence of putting most of the seats on the sunny side of the stadium), and glad that Hartman is contemplating jumping right to Phase II. But numbers haven’t stabilized yet. We don’t yet know what the real base is. Though 3k season tickets is pretty impressive, more than some MLS teams, that’s not enough to guarantee adding the Phase II end seating.

The best cautionary tale is the Rochster Rhino’s stadium. Rochester came roaring out of the gate, drawing 10k a game, and did so eight straight years. I don’t know, off the top of my head, when they moved to their new stadium that they had built for them, one with a capacity of 13,768. Probably 2006, when the stadium opened.

Rochester’s attendance has dropped every year since then, only drawing 5137 per game last year.

Yes, San Antonio has had a strong start. But six games is a fraction of what’s needed to have any sense of where they are going and whether it’s worth building a 20k seater. We can revisit this after the 2015 season, if San Antonio has a season ticket base of 6.5k, a waiting list, and are breaking ground on Phase III.