One main factor for the MLS to be located in San Antonio is the fact that we have a stadium in place to host a franchise of our very own. A claim not many cities can make and can be a deal breaker in some cases.

The Alamodome is a perfect selling point and offers a very live and vibrant atmosphere to hold meaningful competitions. We’ve seen the versatility of the venue in the past when it was home to the San Antonio Spurs and even hosted an NBA All Star game. The American football fan is familiar with it due to the college bowl game the Alamobowl, that is an annual event and due also to the Dallas Cowboys holding training camp there as well.

With concerts and trade shows also utilizing it, the stadium has been used for everything you can think of outside of providing a home to a NFL team, it’s original intended use.

Naturally one is inclined to assume that the Alamodome will be the future home to a MLS franchise as it would seemingly be a perfect fit. And it would be, don’t get me wrong; I think it would be a critical piece in reaffirming our interest in attracting a team.

That issue aside, I would still like to discuss what it would mean to build a soccer specific stadium (SSS), as I feel it would have greater implications.

I understand that building a stadium is a difficult thing to finance, it was when we built the Alamodome and I’m almost sure it would be for a SSS. But let’s just say that we have financing in place and the city and county are on board with building one, what does that mean for the city?

Economics:

There are many soccer specific events that SA would be able to cater to, more so than other cities. With the development of the WPS, and the USL, SA could be a host city to their cup games or a host city to the men’s and women’s national college championships.

SA may also look at hosting youth tournaments or professional tournaments. Additionally we may be able to host more international competitions of a smaller nature, or even a world cup qualifier or international friendlies. All of these possibilities mean generating dollars and flowing revenue into the city through yet another sports related venue.

Due to the unique niche market “soccer” demands, we would be one of the few choices for these types of events and it would add another piece to San Antonio. This brings me to my next point.

Aesthetics:

By adding this other ‘piece’ as I put it, I feel that it must be downtown so that it could add to the skyline, somewhat, and make SA more attractive as a whole. It would also make San Antonio more appealing to the sports industry as the Alamobowl has. Just look at the coverage ESPN gives the Alamobowl, every year college football fans from certain regions in the country descend on the river city to cheer on their team.

From the Final Four, to the NBA Finals, reporters and sports enthusiasts love visiting, and consider coming here a small vacation even if it is while they are working. Adding a SSS would enhance the atmosphere to the city, especially during match day. I can see fellow supporters walking the streets of downtown holding over their heads the Alamo FC scarf, yelling semi-profanities at the other team . . . . . beautiful!

I can imagine the design of the stadium to be one resembling a European style architecture, where the fans are right on top of the pitch. Just imagine what the Baseline Bums would look like as ‘soccer’ fans. It would definitely raise the temperature for the opposing side, speaking of which.

The Weather:

We live in South Texas; do we really need a roof? I mean it is cold like two days a year, and rain hardly ever gets in the way, while it is annoying. Football was meant to be played on natural grass not synthetic turf, although some of the new stuff is pretty good. It just doesn’t make sense to me in an environment as green as ours that we would force ourselves inside.

I personally feel that keeping the world’s most beautiful game indoors is a crime, and it would be a crime if we kept it in the Alamodome. I would understand if we need to use the dome to escape the heat or big time events like hosting Real Madrid or AC Milan, but we will not have 60,000 fans showing up for a match between our team and Toronto FC, unfortunately.

Why not take advantage of our natural climate?

Building a soccer specific stadium is important and there has been some discussion on making the venue a combination stadium with a stage at one end for concerts and located in the suburbs as some other stadiums are modeled in much the same way.

I think this is a bad idea for two reasons: first, the stadiums look awkward and the stage doesn’t really add to the spirit of the game, it is tantamount to having yard markers across the pitch; second, why worry about a concert venue when we have the Alamodome, we can hold concerts there, and if we need something smaller, than we will use the AT&T Center. I just don’t think adding a stage is justifiable when we already have enough venues for that.

Also, if we don’t build the stadium near downtown we risk repeating what Dallas has done; in very bad taste I might add. FC Dallas, or the Dallas Burn as they used to be referred to, decided to build a stadium in Frisco, TX, some 45 minutes away from downtown Dallas. This effectively made the distance too far to travel from some of the most important supporters who came to the games at the Cotton Bowl.

As a result, their attandence has suffered, greatly, and the players lack passion for the sport when they are playing in front of a few people and their dog. The franchise has taken a downward spiral and is largely considered perennial bottom feeders. I wouldn’t expect anything less from a sports team from Dallas that is not the Cowboys or the Dallas Texans.

Even if the stadium was soccer specific, we would still get multiple uses from it. I just want something unique; something the city can get behind and that creates a special atmosphere, in much the same tradition as La Bombonera or Anfield or the San Siro. If we don’t have high expectations, we may never realize our true potential . . . . I think San Antonio has great potential.

What do you think?

Obviously, SS&E have followed the rich history in San Antonio of thinking small and looks set to short change us again. But would could a possible solution be?

Enter FC Barcelona . . . . here is one of Spain’s most successful football clubs, locked into two more years of appearances in the US, and wanting to brand a club in the MLS. SS&E should partner with them in bringing an MLS team to San Antonio, or the city’s leaders should recognize a huge opportunity staring them in the face and create a partnership.

The city should partner with the Catalan giants. Ok there, I said it; that just happened!

What about the French connection?

Tony Parker is from France, Thierry Henry is from France; Tony Parker and Thierry Henry are friends; Thierry Henry plays for FC Barcelona, Tony Parker plays for the San Antonio Spurs; wink, wink! Se Magnifique!

Until recently, I even had visions of Henry tearing down the left side of the pitch in the Alamodome, cutting inward at the eighteen yard box and finishing a beautiful goal in the top right corner, but he just looks too smitten with New York, so that’s probably not going to happen.

But FC Barcelona to San Antonio could happen.

After all, the club has stated on several occasions they will continue to work on increasing their presence in the USA. I think that would be obvious considering the turn out for their preseason friendlies.

What about Beckham?

Beckham? What about him? Well apparently he wants to buy an MLS franchise, or at least has it in his contract with MLS to purchase a team after his contract expires. This idea is probably crazy, but I don’t mind getting a little crazy, after all, I am a mad footballer.

The other option is to secure a team through relocation, as in, a franchise leaving a city to move to San Antonio. I know this may be cheap, Houston Dynamo, but if a city can’t support their team, perhaps they shouldn’t be there. An opinion that is sound in theory, but it appears that we can’t even support a team, and we don’t even have one.

I guess our last and most desperate choice is to surround the Alamo and fight until our death. Or we can just continue to support the grassroots effort of the Crocketteers. It’s your choice, but I suspect that you value your life a little more than football, at least some of you do, you know who you are.

I think at this point the best idea is to partner with a larger organization and establish a franchise as a joint venture. Even with a USL-1 team in San Antonio, we could still partner with a bigger club or investment group to help fund our eventual promotion into the MLS. I also feel that this would be the quicker way to fund a soccer specific stadium, which I would like to discuss in Part III. In the meantime, let me know what you think.

Definitely not an easy task bringing a professional franchise to San Antonio, let alone a franchise that might not be accepted by everyone. And lack of support has already brought a premature death to the world’s most popular sport in this city. But as the reports continue to surface of a USL-1 club in the works to be granted to San Antonio I have a few questions.

Should we settle for a USL-1 team?

Appropriately enough, Spurs Sports & Entertainment is in negotiations to bring a United Soccer League-1 (USL-1) team into San Antonio, as an MLS team proved to be too expensive. I for one understand the logic, let’s start small and see where that leads us . . . . right? But where will that lead us?

The Seattle Sounders were lucky enough to be promoted but they have a rich history of the sport existing in the city for almost a decade now. The Sounders had both things necessary for success going for them, an ownership group who was dedicated and was willing to spend the money needed to fund the establishment of the franchise, and a fanbase that was mad for the game, and clearly mad for the team.

The MLS is not in the business of promoting teams from the USL-1 unless they are in a city that has the resources to support a major professional team.

So if we can’t support a major professional team now, what makes us think we can support a major professional team in the future? I don’t want to seem like I’m being negative, I think the USL-1 in SA is a good thing, don’t get me wrong.

But I honestly think that SS&E and the city are not exploring all available options.

Reading an article from Match Fit USA I realized that the politics of bringing an MLS team to a city is rather complex, and often times quite ruthless. The article reported that DC United could be moved from Washington, DC if they didn’t build a new soccer specific stadium.

If you’ve been following the MLS from the beginning, like I have, you would know that this would be a tragedy. The New England Revolution are also in a similar predicament, with a lease to a stadium that neither fits their needs or their attendance to regular season games, being superfluous at best.

The article focuses on the possibility of the team being moved to St. Louis who themselves, had a deal fall through for an MLS team but looks slated to be awarded one very soon. Apparently there is no wanting for choice with regards to a stadium, as there have been three groups proposing sites and plans to build one, since then.

It always seems like other cities have more resources than San Antonio, why is that? What are some possible solutions for this dilemma? I’ll explore some of my own answers in Part II, but I want to hear some of your thoughts on the subject.

Football is the sport I began playing in a little known town called San Antonio, where I made my footballing debut at the tender age of six. Who knew that only five years later I would win State with my club team putting SA on the map?

Ok, maybe my team didn’t put SA on the map . . . . . . nor did winning the Under-12 State Championship. In fact, I’m pretty sure the championships my brother’s teams won laid the foundation for footballers in SA; I was just riding the legacy. That is to say, I have been carried by the legacy of all of those mad footballers who came before me, playing a sport they didn’t truly comprehend but played anyways for what the game represented. As Bob Marley so eloquently put it, “football means freedom.”

Regrettably, their legacy has gone unmentioned, unheralded, uncelebrated for far too long . . . . . . until now. Now is the time their sacrifice will come to fruition with the Crocketteers and their efforts to bring a pro franchise to the SA. I am happy to say that I will be lending my services to this effort with the hopes that in the future I am worthy enough to call myself a Crocketteer.

So when you ask this Scouser at heart, clad in Silver and Black: “what it is you value so highly, that you are willing to fight and possibly die for?”

I will call it football . . . . .

-Andres Roberto