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Why haven't they sold out? I thought San Antonio would take advantage of this situation.
A golden ticket for San Antonio?
10:29 PM CDT on Wednesday, September 28, 2005
By BRAD TOWNSEND / The Dallas Morning News
http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dw....16448716.html
SAN ANTONIO – The black and gold, 27-foot fleur-de-lis New Orleans Saints logo dominates the Alamodome's south façade, no doubt drawing double-takes from I-37 motorists.
Don't blink, San Antonio. The NFL has indeed arrived, if only temporarily.
An honest-to-goodness regular-season game between the Buffalo Bills and the Hurricane Katrina-orphaned Saints will be played Sunday in the Alamodome.
It is an historic occasion for a city that has long harbored NFL aspirations, but also an awkward cir stance of conflicting emotions and implications.
San Antonio wouldn't be in this position had Katrina not overwhelmed New Orleans and damaged the Superdome, causing the Saints to relocate their base for 2005.
This is their first of three "home" games in the Alamodome. They'll play four others at LSU's Tiger Stadium.
"We're not interested in dancing on someone else's grave," says Red McCombs, former owner of the NBA Spurs and NFL Minnesota Vikings and a San Antonian since 1958.
"We are very interested in making this as pleasant a time for the Saints as we possibly can under the cir stances."
In the days after Katrina struck, San Antonio leaders emphasized that they were simply extending a hand. But during the last four weeks, some of them have acknowledged ulterior motives.
They have billed the Alamodome games as an opportunity to prove that San Antonio is a viable NFL city. They also are not-so-discretely cozying to Saints owner Tom Benson, a longtime area resident and auto dealer.
Officially, San Antonio says it merely wants to make the games a financial success for Benson, but some have charged that the city's long-term objective is to convince him to move the franchise.
"I don't think it's awkward at all," says Henry Cisneros, San Antonio's mayor from 1981 to 1989 and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 1993 to 1997.
"This [New Orleans] is clearly a city on its back, not capable of playing professional sports at this moment. The Saints approached us. They're an organization in need of relief, a venue to play, a market that would be supportive."
Nevertheless, uncertainty about the Saints' future has stirred speculation about San Antonio as a potential home. Long before Katrina, Benson questioned whether New Orleans and the 30-year-old Superdome could sustain an NFL team.
Just as hopes neared fever pitch last week, NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue hit San Antonio with a bucket of ice water. He cast doubt whether the Saints could play in New Orleans in 2006, but when asked about San Antonio's qualifications, he said the NFL has no plans to move "any teams into small markets."
"We don't pay any attention to him," McCombs chuckled.
Other city leaders, particularly mayor Phil Hardberger, were not as amused.
Hardberger remarked that he would reserve the Alamodome's "highest seat" for Tagliabue on Sunday. But later, after the commissioner faxed Hardberger a letter pledging the NFL's supporting in making the three San Antonio games a success, Hardberger told The San Antonio Express-News:
"We are going to invite him to the game and give him a better seat."
Amid the politicking, Saints players and coaches are focused on more pressing concerns. Mostly, they are grateful to have a place to call home.
Like many Gulf Coast residents, they were uprooted by Katrina. Tagliabue decreed that they play their Sept. 19 home opener against the Giants at Giants Stadium. Only within the past two weeks have they moved out of hotels, enrolled their children in schools and settled into homes.
"All I can tell you in reference to San Antonio is we've gotten a lot of love here," offensive tackle Wayne Gandy says. "I'm happy to be here, under the cir stances."
The New Orleans Saints, displaced by Hurricane Katrina, play three 'home' games at the Alamodome. San Antonio expects to make the most of it.
As residents, civic leaders and much of the local media squawk about Tagliabue's comments, it appears the Saints finally have a common denominator with their adopted home city. They are united in dislike of Tagliabue.
"I don't think San Antonio is a small market," wide receiver Joe Horn says. "They have a dome. They have 75,000 seats. Why can't they be filled? We'll see."
Actually, the Alamodome has 65,000 seats. It also has only 34 luxury suites, or less than 10 percent of Texas Stadium's 380.
McCombs says that four years ago, when he was the Vikings owner and exploring venue options outside Minneapolis' Metrodome, he and San Antonio officials commissioned studies to learn what it would take to make the Alamodome NFL-viable.
McCombs says both concluded that it would cost $150 million to $200 million. "So it's a doable deal," he says.
Last week, Tagliabue reiterated that if a team were to move, Los Angeles would be the first option. In NFL circles, Benson is regarded as a good soldier who would be unlikely to buck Tagliabue.
Benson has been mum except to say that returning to New Orleans is his first preference. But he was present two weeks ago at a breakfast meeting of San Antonio business leaders, who pledged to throw support behind the Alamodome games.
Last week, Cisneros accompanied Benson on his plane for support-garnering stops in Corpus Christi, Laredo and McAllen.
Cisneros was a key figure in getting the Alamodome built, and along with McCombs lobbied for an NFL expansion team in the early '90s. The city didn't even make the first cut, finishing behind Baltimore, St. Louis, Jacksonville and Carolina.
"San Antonio has been on a roll, and it's a different place in population, income, television market and purchasing power than it was a decade or 15 years ago," Cisneros says.
It is widely assumed that Dallas owner Jerry Jones would oppose having a third Texas team, especially in an area in which the Cowboys have a huge fan base. Through a spokesman, Jones declined to comment last week. Cisneros says "the Jones family has been very supportive" of San Antonio's past efforts.
Ironically, Cisneros believes that hosting these Saints games and speculation about San Antonio "stealing" the franchise like a vulture pouncing on wounded prey hinders the city's future NFL chances.
"If we do really well with these three games, there is no direct line that says this leads to an NFL team," Cisneros says. "We acknowledge that.
"But if we do badly and embarrass ourselves, there is a direct line that says, 'Wipe yourself off the list. You've set yourself back 20 years.'
"This is one of those situations where if you accept the challenge, you're really testing fate."
Why haven't they sold out? I thought San Antonio would take advantage of this situation.
Is the game going to be on TV?
Won't know til Thursday afternoon.
Last week, Tagliabue reiterated that if a team were to move, Los Angeles would be the first option. In NFL circles, Benson is regarded as a good soldier who would be unlikely to buck Tagliabue.LA already had their chance many of times and FAILED. That is lame....
It's gonna get blacked out in SA if they don't Sellout.
Yet, the NFL is trying desperately to get a team located in Los Angeles.
Cause that's where NFL officials buy there drugs.. in LA..
They have to get crack rocks for the commish.. from the cryps..
San Antonio embraces its temporary team
Eighth largest U.S. city hopes to lure NFL team.
SAN ANTONIO (AP) - The line snaked for a quarter mile.
Thousands of football-starved fans were jumping at the chance to buy tickets to see the New Orleans Saints - and for a chance to show how the nation's eighth-largest city can support an NFL team.
The mayor and business leaders are trying to rally the city to support the Saints, who were forced here when Hurricane Katrina swamped their city, and prove San Antonio is a major market worthy of an NFL franchise.
"It's unfortunate that it took these cir stance to get these games over here, but it will show San Antonio is ready for a team," said Red McCombs, a San Antonio resident and former owner of the Spurs and the Minnesota Vikings.
The NFL placed the Saints here for three games at the Alamodome this season, starting with Sunday's matchup with the Buffalo Bills. The Saints also will play four games in Baton Rouge.
Little by little, the Alamodome is getting dressed up for the Saints. Team offices occupy much of the space of the lower levels and giant "SAINTS" signs decorate the outside.
"The way we've been treated here so far, knowing that we're going through some things, it's been phenomenal," said Saints wide receiver Joe Horn.
But questions remain about where the Saints will be in the future - Los Angeles is still the NFL's favorite for a relocated franchise. Moreover, San Antonio's leaders are careful to note they're not trying to cash in on New Orleans' misfortune.
"It's improper to talk about trying to bring the team here. New Orleans is a city flat on its back," said Henry Cisneros, a former San Antonio mayor and Clinton administration official. "Then the best way we can show we deserve a team of our own no matter what is to fill the Alamodome three times."
Although the city sold about 50,000 tickets for the three Saints games that first day, as of Wednesday, more than 12,100 were available for Sunday's game. If it isn't a sellout, the NFL could ins ute a local television blackout.
San Antonio has flirted with the NFL before.
Hoping to lure an expansion team in the early 1990s, the city built the multipurpose Alamodome. The arena has hosted the NCAA men's and women's basketball Final Fours, the Alamo Bowl and used to be the home of the NBA's Spurs.
The Canadian Football League came and went - the San Antonio Texans of the CFL played in the Alamodome in 1995.
At about 65,000 for football games, the seating capacity is on the small side by NFL standards. And its 38 luxury boxes are far fewer than the league's newer arenas.
The league rejected San Antonio a decade ago in part because it was considered too poor, said Char Miller, a professor of urban studies at Trinity University in San Antonio.
"We neither had the population or economic base that would support a team," Miller said. "The city didn't have the kind of wealth it needed. It didn't have a large enough middle class to pay the type of prices for NFL tickets."
The city has enjoyed an economic explosion over the last 15 years.
Communications giant SBC has its headquarters in San Antonio, along with four other Fortune 500 companies, giving the city corporate spending power necessary to buy sponsorship deals, luxury boxes and stadium naming rights.
Yet it still lags behind other cities. According to the Texas State Data Center at the University of Texas-San Antonio, the city's median household income of $39,018 ranks below Texas' other NFL cities, Dallas ($48,068) and Houston ($44,458).
And while the city ranks in the nation's top 10 in population, the overall metro area ranks 30th. The television market is even smaller.
San Antonio leaders argue that Austin, 75 miles to the north, and the exploding population in the Rio Grande Valley would be part of their market. Austin would bring a wealthier economic base and more potential corporate sponsors like Dell Computer.
Yet nothing San Antonio does or says might be enough.
NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue seems determined to keep looking at Los Angeles. In a recent interview with The Times-Picayune of New Orleans, he suggested San Antonio is a "small market."
"Ever since we approved the move of the Raiders and the Rams, I've been saying that our goal is to get a team back to L.A., either through expansion or whatever, and we're not going to be moving any teams into small markets," he said. "We're going to be moving up in market size, not either down or flat. That's our goal."
Still, San Antonio Mayor Phil Hardberger remains upbeat.
"We think that we can fill up the Alamodome," he said, "to show the doubters out there what kind of city San Antonio is and that there is great interest in the NFL."
"We didn't sell out because it's not our team" is the lamest excuse I've ever heard. I'm disappointed in my fellow San Antonians.
Amen.
It's a simple as this: if they don't sell out the Saints games, kiss their (small anyway) shot at a permanent NFL team goodbye for at least the next decade. No ifs, ands, or buts.
the blackout has been lifted
true.It's a simple as this: if they don't sell out the Saints games, kiss their (small anyway) shot at a permanent NFL team goodbye for at least the next decade. No ifs, ands, or buts.
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