We want to first congratulate you on the job you have done thus far in creating a truly wonderful league. As supporters of the MLS, we see improvement in the quality of play, fan experience, and overall value. 

We the members of the Crocketteers, San Antonio’s Premier Soccer Supporters, are writing you this letter to state our intentions to support MLS in San Antonio.

We state our commitment to continued growth.

We state our commitment to creating a festive atmosphere that both the City of San Antonio and Major League Soccer can be proud of.

Today, we have over 350 members including over 180 paid members.  We wear our scarves with pride and we exist to see the establishment and subsequent support of professional soccer in San Antonio.  We have sold out our initial order of 200 scarves and will have 200 more on the way in the coming weeks.

Our growth has been tremendous over the last year and half of our establishment. In fact on this very day, 50+ members of the Crocketteers will be in Houston to cheer on the MLS All Stars and to proudly wear our supporter colors.

As you may or may not know, San Antonio’s new mayor, Julian Castro seems to be very open to the idea of professional soccer in San Antonio based on limited public comments he has made. We would like to believe that he is not unlike previous mayor Ed Garza in his willingness to see the MLS in San Antonio. And we are hopeful that this change might put the unfortunate events of 2005 behind us and that this change might also be an opportunity to reopen the dialogue between MLS and San Antonio.

In addition, the parent company of the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs, San Antonio Sports & Entertainment (SS&E) has recently indicated that they are interested in getting into the professional soccer business (perhaps MLS).  And while SS&E is interested in the prospects of our very own Soccer-Specific-Stadium, many of us believe that the Alamo Stadium with its storied history is certainly viable at this point in time. The success of the Sounders in Qwest Field and the prospects of seeing the Vancouver franchise in BC Place drive this point home nicely. 

We were very pleased to learn that Major League Soccer has continued interest in the San Antonio market. Your statements the past few days mentioning San Antonio as an expanision market for MLS reaffirms our establishment. We feel we are the largest supporters group without a team. We hope that is not always the case as we look forward to the day we see our team finally take the pitch.

Commissioner, the Crocketteers humbly ask you to strongly consider San Antonio once again. Perhaps you and your league are already in talks with Mayor Castro and a potential ownership group.  We hope all sides realize the tremendous potential of the MLS/San Antonio partnership.

If there indeed exists advanced discussions with your league and our city, I can assure you that the Crocketteers will support it’s future hometown team and all that MLS brings to our great city.

Lastly, I invite you to share in our vision for what could be the day MLS finally calls San Antonio home. We can make this happen!

Thank you again for all that you have done for the beautiful game in America and we look forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours Sincerely,

The Crocketteers

This interview is the second time in a matter of days he has mentioned San Antonio. Speaking to the British newspaper the Telegraph Garber talks about the massive demand in cities like Atlanta, Detroit, San Antonio, and San Diego.

Is this just talk Garber is placing out to get a feel for what cities are prospective expansion cities or is it in response to the rapid growth of the Crocketteers and our grassroots effort to bring a franchise to San Antonio?

As the largest soccer supporters group in the country without a team were are sure Garber and MLS have been keeping tabs on the growth of our group but having a large supporters group is only one piece of the puzzle.

A franchise needs a solid investment group and a plan for a soccer specific stadium. All three of these components are necessary for a successful franchise. San Antonio has shown that a fanbase is here.

The successful Texas Pro Soccer festival in 2008 drew over 10,000 fans for its three exhibition matches. The Crocketteers had sell out crowds for the US World Cup games at the Alamo Drafthouse and nearly 900 soccer fans showed up with the Crocketteers for the World Cup final down at the AT&T Center.

So the final two pieces of the puzzle must be brought together to make a successful pitch to MLS for a expansion franchise. Is there an investment group speaking with MLS? Are their plans for a MLS stadium to be built or is their plans to refurbish an existing Stadium?

We as the Crocketteers will continue to do our part in growing the fanbase here in San Antonio. Now are their some investors out there willing to step onto the pitch to bring us a pro soccer franchise? The fans are waiting.

Links:http://www.usatoday.com/sports/soccer/mls/2010-07-24-commissioner-don-garber-chat_N.htm San Antonio mentioned at the 11:26 minute.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/news/7908343/Thierry-Henry-just-the-latest-step-on-MLS-chief-Don-Garbers-path-to-world-domination.html

If you would like to contribute something to the tailgating i.e more BEER, a special dish, soda, chips, dips, etc. the thought would be GREATLY APPRECIATED. The more food and drink the merrier.

Wear your Crocketteers shirt if you have one. If not we will have few for sale for $10 in sizes L, XL and 2XL.

See everyone in Houston on Wednesday.
Still need tickets? Here is a link to ticketmaster.  Tickets as low as $35 bucks when you buy 4.  http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/0C004493A55E67C6?artistid=875665&majorcatid=10004&minorcatid=11