Wednesday, May 11, 2005
Tankin' the MLS in SA
It looks like the MLS' too-good-to-be-true deal is evaporating in San Antonio. The media there has not taken well to Garza's plans, to say the least, and today comes a curiously timed story about a potential relocation of the NFL's New Orleans Saints to the Alamodome.
The article in question is sourced almost entirely through figures in San Antonio that are against MLS and Garza, to the extent that it's reasonable to view it as a plant meant to derail MLS for good.
Dangling the prospects of an NFL franchise has been a recurring theme in recent San Antonio politics, and this story is meant to keep that hope alive in the city. Reading between the lines, it reduces to this: pick up MLS now and you have no chance whatsoever of landing a NFL team down the road, no matter how unlikely that may be.
To add further insult, it comes through relatively clearly that the Saints are simply using San Antonio for leverage in their own negotiations with New Orleans. Moreover, there is every indication from the NFL that Los Angeles would beat out any competitor for the Saints if they decide to pack things up.
Then there is this:
I personally don't care whether MLS goes to SA. I don't like the idea of having a team under a dome and on FieldTurf, but the deal initially offered to MLS was incredibly attractive. I couldn't blame MLS for being interested, and for putting aside its now standard demands for new cities (SSS, most notably).
San Antonio residents and their media have every right to object to such a deal if it is not in the best interests of the city, but the impression I get from reading the media coverage is that certain vested interests (McCombs, Clear Channel; now Hardberger) have attempted to sabotage MLS from the outset, whether for their own personal gain or because of a latent bias against soccer. A story like today's only makes me believe this more.
The article in question is sourced almost entirely through figures in San Antonio that are against MLS and Garza, to the extent that it's reasonable to view it as a plant meant to derail MLS for good.
Dangling the prospects of an NFL franchise has been a recurring theme in recent San Antonio politics, and this story is meant to keep that hope alive in the city. Reading between the lines, it reduces to this: pick up MLS now and you have no chance whatsoever of landing a NFL team down the road, no matter how unlikely that may be.
To add further insult, it comes through relatively clearly that the Saints are simply using San Antonio for leverage in their own negotiations with New Orleans. Moreover, there is every indication from the NFL that Los Angeles would beat out any competitor for the Saints if they decide to pack things up.
Then there is this:
Before any team seriously considers relocating to San Antonio, several hurdles would have to be overcome. The biggest obstacle would be bringing the Alamodome up to NFL standards, a project likely to cost close to $200 million.Sure, the NFL is light years ahead of MLS in terms of prestige and brings certain benefits to its host cities that Garber & Co. can only dream of at this point. But if it was hard to swallow MLS' asking price, I wonder how folks will react to this comparably astronomical cost. I hope, for the sake of consistency, that the media responds with at least equal amounts of skepticism.
I personally don't care whether MLS goes to SA. I don't like the idea of having a team under a dome and on FieldTurf, but the deal initially offered to MLS was incredibly attractive. I couldn't blame MLS for being interested, and for putting aside its now standard demands for new cities (SSS, most notably).
San Antonio residents and their media have every right to object to such a deal if it is not in the best interests of the city, but the impression I get from reading the media coverage is that certain vested interests (McCombs, Clear Channel; now Hardberger) have attempted to sabotage MLS from the outset, whether for their own personal gain or because of a latent bias against soccer. A story like today's only makes me believe this more.
