By Ben Nicholson
October 3 – San Antonio’s MLS expansion bid campaign has slipped under the media radar in recent weeks. Las Vegas’ clamor for city backing and Sacramento’s joy at their on-field success and off-field visits from MLS reps have kept the formerly favored San Antonio bid relatively underrepresented. Perhaps unjustly as the bid appears to tick the appropriate boxes.
San Antonio already has an 8,296 soccer-specific stadium which is the current home of the San Antonio Scorpions. The club has released plans to add a further 10,000 seats to its Toyota Field facility, along with more merchandise outlets, concessions, suites, and restrooms to make it MLS-ready.
The expected cost is estimated at $38-45 million, significantly less than the amounts required to build a stadium from scratch (estimated at about $200 million for Las Vegas).
The San Antonio funding is reportedly going to be a communal affair. Howard Cornfield, team President and General Manager, stated that team owner, Gordon Hartman, “has already put in a tremendous amount of money into this project, but to make this dream come true everybody is going to have to come together.” If this does entail city funding, it will come at a lower financial burden than other bids are currently carrying.
In addition, the Scorpions have some other key components for an attractive expansion bid.
Firstly, their close proximity to rival teams, namely Houston and Dallas, would serve to create the atmospheric derby days that the MLS hope to propagate. Secondly, the team currently sits in second place in the North American Soccer League (NASL), suggesting that they are capable of moving into the big league with greater competition. Thirdly, with an average attendance around 6,800, they have a proven fan base in the area.
Las Vegas’ stadium proposal update: Las Vegas City Council has delayed their vote on the stadium plans until December. This is to enable the Findley Sports & Entertainment and Cordish Companies to finalize their rejuvenated financial package.
Whereas previously they were asking for $115 million from the city, they are now looking instead for $46 million in the form of bond money, repaid over the course of 30 years from hotel room tax collections (at $3 million per year). This would be in addition to a $22 million contribution in Sales Tax Anticipated Revenue Bonds and a $14 million contribution to infrastructure work.
The rest of the anticipated $250 million required to make the franchise possible is expected to come from private investors.
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