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but 10 million for 13 soccer fields is ridiculous!
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/cit...2666cbf58.html
Mayor set to serve up new ideas for soccer
Web Posted: 05/12/2005 12:00 AM CDT
Tom Orsborn
Express-News Staff Writer
Bowing to community pressure, Mayor Ed Garza said Wednesday night that his new plan to bring a Major League Soccer team to San Antonio asks the city to spend $2.74 million for improvements to the Alamodome and eliminates all other projects.
His original plan included an additional $18 million construction at Brooks City-Base of a 13-field youth soccer complex and a practice facility for an MLS team.
"This new plan still allows us to make needed improvements to the dome and make it a premier indoor soccer facility," Garza said.
Those improvements include the completion of 14 luxury suites, bringing the total to 52, the installation of new turf and the refurbishing of offices.
Garza said he also plans to unveil at today's City Council meeting changes to the memorandum of understanding between the city and the league. The memorandum serves as a framework for a lease agreement between the city and the MLS team.
"While this new plan is politically acceptable, it may not be acceptable to the MLS," Garza said.
Asked if he thought the MLS might end negotiations with the city because of the changes, Garza said: "It's hard to say how this shakes things up."
A message left with MLS spokesman Simon Borg for comment from league officials wasn't immediately returned.
Garza announced last week that he'd develop a new plan for soccer after hearing City Council members' complaints about his original incentive-laden package.
"I have heard loud and clear from my cons uents that they are not happy with the (terms) of the memorandum of understanding," Councilman Art Hall said. "The perception is that we are giving away the dome."
The memorandum calls for the team to get the Alamodome rent-free for 20 games a year and as much as 80 percent of any revenue made on selling the naming rights.
Garza said the fate of his soccer project will be left to the new City Council, which won't be in place until late June because of the June 7 runoff election for mayor and two seats.
"And not a penny will be spent until a lease agreement is approved and 5,000 season tickets are sold," Garza said.
MLS officials have said they will grant the city a team if it sells 5,000 season tickets and produces a local ownership group.
Garza and his supporters say an MLS team would provide the dome with an anchor tenant and help reduce the building's annual deficit of $2 million.
"The irony today is that there is all this talk about the NFL (coming to San Antonio) and about rumors and potential," Garza said. "Well, the MLS is ready to come to San Antonio today."
Garza said he'll announce today the establishment of a blue-ribbon commission for the development of a youth soccer complex. He said the panel will include representatives of the San Antonio Sports Foundation.
"There is still a big opportunity to do things at Brooks," Garza said. "It will just be a different approach."
A local soccer advocate, Reagan High School boys coach Walter Rule, said he was disappointed that Garza wasn't following through with his original plan to construct youth fields.
"It's great that they are trying to bring MLS to the city," he said. "But ultimately, somewhere along the way we have to take care of our youth."
San Antonio has 164 soccer fields, a number dwarfed by Houston's 358, Dallas' 310 and Austin's 230.
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Blaze's Take: Let's see...help the youth of our community and actually attempt to pay off the expense by leasing the fields or continue to get raped by making upgrades on the Dome and giving the farm to a franchise that very few in San Antonio would openly support.
I can't believe this er gets ANOTHER 17 days.
but 10 million for 13 soccer fields is ridiculous!
Man, I used to be a Site Director and Asst. Sports Director for the YMCA and believe me, any more fields they can put together will be beneficial for San Antonio.
When I worked for them, we used the fields at O.P. Schnabel (over on Bandera and Braun) and we would have to have people there from 7A-7P every Saturday just to get all the games in.
If you're going to invest $10M, invest it in the growth of your city, not some franchise that will have MAYBE 3,000 individual ticket-holders a game (not counting the business ticket packages that they will be forced to get with a suite or the promotional giveaways that you'll get for getting a spark plug changed at AutoZone).
While I know a lot of people would be against the NFL, at least with that franchise, San Antonians will get to enjoy something they've wanted and the city wouldn't get dry-raped with a broomstick by the NFL (partly becuase of the scrutiny that would go towards any new contract by any franchise after Garza tried to pull the original ).
This city council (please let Castro lose, God) ed and whined when the new city manager candidate was going to make $60 to $80k more than they expected.
What's scary is that a number of these councilpersons didn't raise until their consituents forced them to.
i think soccer fields would be great, but not for 10 million dollars...
Fine, subsidize it with corporate donations.
Make them the HEB/Coca-Cola/Clear Channel Soccer Fields of San Antonio.
I'm trying to find out what it cost for the Mays family to build that sports park on Blanco past 1604 (my friend was a Sports Director when they built that).
Do you really think that soccer would be big here?
How many of you would actually go to games?
Nicely priced soccer might really take off here with our Mexican and Central/South American roots and fanbase.
My main concern with this from the beginning was the ass-raping Garza was preparing us for as a lame duck Mayor.
that is a good idea, but someone needs to go out and push that to the businesses. ancira has his own sports park as well.
I would most likely not go to any soccer games. Maybe one, but that's about it. I used to play soccer. I haven't even been to a Rampage game yet and they PAY you to go to those!
haha.. no ... for like 5 bucks, you get an ice cream, a t-shirt, a hot dog, a beer and a blowjob...
True, but from what KEDA's buddies tell me, there's holes in them thar fields.
I would.
There are many kids in our area who love and play soccer and they are in desperate need of more youth soccer fields.
Soccer is not a bad idea. Thinking outside the box, I think we might do better getting into the Mexican league rather the US league. That way, Mexico's passion for soccer would be a big help.
I'd try to get season tickets, but I'm one of the bigger soccer fans on the board.
Look, they had the land donated for fields. Given that, it costs about $3000 to set up a soccer field.
I realize they were planning on a "clubhouse" out there, but $10 million for 13 soccer fields is a joke.
You could take $300K and build 100 fields out there. Yeah, upkeep and maintenance is going to cost you some, but that whole $10 million for 13 fields thing was BS any way you slice it.
someone was going to be making out big time with the 10 mil pricetag. but yes, i am for youth recreation in any way, shape or form. but not when the price is jacked up like that.
The idea for a Mexican League franchise isn't bad. Throw another team in either the Valley or Laredo and there's an instant rivalry. That, and I'm sure Mexican League fans travel better than MLS away team fans, especially to San Antonio.
One other thing. I went to an MLS game last year during the State Fair when the Burn played the Metrostars in the Cotton Bowl, and there might have been 3,000 people there. There just wasn't very much excitement in a stadium that holds 70K, even with $10 tickets and a free State Fair pass included.
soccer hasn't been profitable in the united states yet. i doubt it will be anytime soon.
SA having a profitable Mexican League franchise with a direct economic impact on the community is one thing. SA with a crappy MLS team that plays in half (or much less) filled stadia around the US is another, though much more likely.
Maybe all the MLS teams ought to join the Mexican League.
mexico played honduras got 37,000... then they played a few months later and only got 22,000. significant drop off in attendance. imagine a full season. it would be like the rampage.
regardless of how many people in sa go to games, whether mls is successful or not still has nothing to do with sa city gov wanting to spend 10 mil on 13 youth soccer fields.
I don't support the city govenrment spending that much money, just to clarify.
The city needs soccer fields, that's is without a doubt. 10 million though? I would like to see where that 10 million is going. What are the details of the proposal?
They are going to shred the 10 million into strips and use it for the astro turf on the 13 new fields.
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