blaze89
07-05-2005, 12:57 PM
NFL border football push gaining steam
Backers enlist advisory firm to draft plan
W. Scott Bailey
While San Antonio's NBA Spurs have captured the attention of much of South Texas -- if not a more global audience -- during their latest championship run, an effort to bring the NFL to Texas' border region has gone mostly unnoticed.
But those pushing hardest for a plan that would have Texas and Mexico share an NFL franchise have quietly continued their march and may have picked up some important momentum.
In November, the Business Journal first reported that McHenry T. Tichenor, former CEO of the Hispanic Broadcasting Corp. (which later merged with Univision), had teamed up with business leaders in the Rio Grande Valley region in an effort to attract an NFL team.
While such a plan may seem far-fetched to many -- especially since San Antonio has so far failed to make any headway on the NFL front -- not everyone is convinced the pursuit is a lost cause.
Former Minnesota Vikings owner Red McCombs, along with top officials with the San Antonio Spurs, are among those who have been alerted that Tichenor and Valley officials are working on an NFL plan.
McCombs, who has been San Antonio's biggest cheerleader when it comes to the NFL, attempted to acquire an expansion franchise in the early 1990s. He was shocked when the league elected to go to Charlotte, N.C., and Jacksonville, Fla., instead.
So could an NFL team wind up in the Valley instead of San Antonio?
"I hope not," McCombs says. "But who knows?"
International appeal
Al Boyle, a representative for South Carolina-based Tichenor & Associates, says momentum for the border NFL project is indeed building. He says the plan would include the construction of a new stadium somewhere between South Padre Island and McAllen, near the Mexico border.
"By concept and by design," Boyle says, "Mexicans can feel the stadium is theirs as equally as (Texans) can."
Tichenor has enlisted the assistance of Conventions, Sports & Leisure (CSL) International to help develop a plan to take to the NFL.
CSL is a leading planning and advisory firm, which specializes in providing consulting services to the sports, entertainment and leisure industries. The company, which maintains offices in Dallas and Minneapolis, assists clients from the earliest stages of project planning, providing in-depth risk-return analysis and alternatives.
It lists some 17 NFL franchises as clients, including the Dallas Cowboys, Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings, as well as the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots.
CSL also lists as clients nearly two-dozen NBA teams and was involved in the SBC Center project.
Jay Lenhardt, senior project manager for CSL, says Tichenor "brought us in to analyze the market and to draft a plan."
Lenhardt says a final report is due to Tichenor within the month.
"The real key to the deal," Lenhardt explains, "is when you look at the total Valley demographics."
He adds, "The NFL needs to be convinced this can work. But this would open that league up to an international market (with Mexico)."
Border crossing
There are a number of hurdles that could stand in the way of Valley leaders' goal of joining the NFL. One of them is the continued illegal drug-trafficking related violence along parts of the Texas-Mexico border, which could raise a red flag at the league office. Another is ongoing terrorism-prevention concerns, which could hamper efforts to move tens of thousands of potential football fans from Mexico into the U.S. and back again in a timely manner.
But those working to bring big-time professional football to the border region remain convinced it can work.
Boyle says nearly 100 business owners met in Mexico City recently and that the NFL plan presented was well-received by them and the media. He says efforts continue to secure letters of intent to support such a team from businesses on both sides of the border.
For its part, the NFL will stage a regular season game in Mexico City in October between the San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals. It will mark the first time the league has taken a game to that country that was not a pre-season contest featuring a Texas team.
Valley supporters say a deep South Texas team would draw from a population base of more than 7.4 million people. A Gallup survey also found that 85 percent of the 1.2 million potential pigskin fans in Monterrey, Mexico, alone were willing to cross the border to support an NFL team in the Valley.
San Antonio fumble?
The Valley's gain could be San Antonio's loss, as there is no way the NFL will put more than one team in South Texas.
Worse yet, CSL's Lenhardt says Tichenor and his group are "not really counting on San Antonio" to help make their plan a success.
Late last year, Bill Summers, president and CEO of the Rio Grande Valley Partnership, an association of businesses in the area, said he was not the least bit concerned that a Rio Grande Valley NFL team might hurt San Antonio's own NFL chances.
"San Antonio has had its chances lots of times," Summers explained.
So how serious is Tichenor?
Another of his associates, Bert Coleman, says: "This is a serious effort. Mac (Tichenor) really wants this and has a lot invested."
Boyle says his group needs to guard against too much blue-sky optimism. But at the same time, he points to a quote from Thoreau: "Have your dreams and build a structure beneath them."
He says that is how Valley leaders and others will press on as they pursue their "South Texas/Mexico field of dreams."
© 2005 American City Business Journals Inc.
Backers enlist advisory firm to draft plan
W. Scott Bailey
While San Antonio's NBA Spurs have captured the attention of much of South Texas -- if not a more global audience -- during their latest championship run, an effort to bring the NFL to Texas' border region has gone mostly unnoticed.
But those pushing hardest for a plan that would have Texas and Mexico share an NFL franchise have quietly continued their march and may have picked up some important momentum.
In November, the Business Journal first reported that McHenry T. Tichenor, former CEO of the Hispanic Broadcasting Corp. (which later merged with Univision), had teamed up with business leaders in the Rio Grande Valley region in an effort to attract an NFL team.
While such a plan may seem far-fetched to many -- especially since San Antonio has so far failed to make any headway on the NFL front -- not everyone is convinced the pursuit is a lost cause.
Former Minnesota Vikings owner Red McCombs, along with top officials with the San Antonio Spurs, are among those who have been alerted that Tichenor and Valley officials are working on an NFL plan.
McCombs, who has been San Antonio's biggest cheerleader when it comes to the NFL, attempted to acquire an expansion franchise in the early 1990s. He was shocked when the league elected to go to Charlotte, N.C., and Jacksonville, Fla., instead.
So could an NFL team wind up in the Valley instead of San Antonio?
"I hope not," McCombs says. "But who knows?"
International appeal
Al Boyle, a representative for South Carolina-based Tichenor & Associates, says momentum for the border NFL project is indeed building. He says the plan would include the construction of a new stadium somewhere between South Padre Island and McAllen, near the Mexico border.
"By concept and by design," Boyle says, "Mexicans can feel the stadium is theirs as equally as (Texans) can."
Tichenor has enlisted the assistance of Conventions, Sports & Leisure (CSL) International to help develop a plan to take to the NFL.
CSL is a leading planning and advisory firm, which specializes in providing consulting services to the sports, entertainment and leisure industries. The company, which maintains offices in Dallas and Minneapolis, assists clients from the earliest stages of project planning, providing in-depth risk-return analysis and alternatives.
It lists some 17 NFL franchises as clients, including the Dallas Cowboys, Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings, as well as the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots.
CSL also lists as clients nearly two-dozen NBA teams and was involved in the SBC Center project.
Jay Lenhardt, senior project manager for CSL, says Tichenor "brought us in to analyze the market and to draft a plan."
Lenhardt says a final report is due to Tichenor within the month.
"The real key to the deal," Lenhardt explains, "is when you look at the total Valley demographics."
He adds, "The NFL needs to be convinced this can work. But this would open that league up to an international market (with Mexico)."
Border crossing
There are a number of hurdles that could stand in the way of Valley leaders' goal of joining the NFL. One of them is the continued illegal drug-trafficking related violence along parts of the Texas-Mexico border, which could raise a red flag at the league office. Another is ongoing terrorism-prevention concerns, which could hamper efforts to move tens of thousands of potential football fans from Mexico into the U.S. and back again in a timely manner.
But those working to bring big-time professional football to the border region remain convinced it can work.
Boyle says nearly 100 business owners met in Mexico City recently and that the NFL plan presented was well-received by them and the media. He says efforts continue to secure letters of intent to support such a team from businesses on both sides of the border.
For its part, the NFL will stage a regular season game in Mexico City in October between the San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals. It will mark the first time the league has taken a game to that country that was not a pre-season contest featuring a Texas team.
Valley supporters say a deep South Texas team would draw from a population base of more than 7.4 million people. A Gallup survey also found that 85 percent of the 1.2 million potential pigskin fans in Monterrey, Mexico, alone were willing to cross the border to support an NFL team in the Valley.
San Antonio fumble?
The Valley's gain could be San Antonio's loss, as there is no way the NFL will put more than one team in South Texas.
Worse yet, CSL's Lenhardt says Tichenor and his group are "not really counting on San Antonio" to help make their plan a success.
Late last year, Bill Summers, president and CEO of the Rio Grande Valley Partnership, an association of businesses in the area, said he was not the least bit concerned that a Rio Grande Valley NFL team might hurt San Antonio's own NFL chances.
"San Antonio has had its chances lots of times," Summers explained.
So how serious is Tichenor?
Another of his associates, Bert Coleman, says: "This is a serious effort. Mac (Tichenor) really wants this and has a lot invested."
Boyle says his group needs to guard against too much blue-sky optimism. But at the same time, he points to a quote from Thoreau: "Have your dreams and build a structure beneath them."
He says that is how Valley leaders and others will press on as they pursue their "South Texas/Mexico field of dreams."
© 2005 American City Business Journals Inc.