SAN ANTONIO – The city and county continue to make pitches to draw another professional sports franchise to San Antonio.
Whether it's Major League Soccer or Major League Baseball, our city can't seem to score.
In the infamous case of the Oakland Raiders, San Antonio has been used as leverage to get teams the deal they really want.
"You know what? I'm not going to be the last girl asked to the prom," Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff said. "I'm not going to sit here and just let them use us. If everybody else turns them down, (they say) 'Well, maybe we'll go to San Antonio.' Nah, I don't want to play that game."
Wolff has alleged that MLS misled local officials after learning an MLS team could be going to Austin.
So what could be holding us back? And when do local leaders call the game?
"It's an aspiration of a lot of cities," University of Texas at San Antonio professor David Bojanic said.
Bojanic, who has a background in sports marketing, tourism and hospitality, said some key factors may work against the Alamo City in the pursuit of another pro team. One is a potential fan base with a low household income, compared to bigger cities. The median income in San Antonio in 2015 was just over $46,000.
"Would they all still be loyal Spurs fans?" Bojanic said. "Or when the season overlaps, like with football in the fall, would they say, 'We can only go to one sport or afford one each weekend or during the week.'"
Another reason is a lack of big business in San Antonio.
"Because they bring with it higher incomes, they bring with it sponsorship money (and) naming rights for stadiums," Bojanic said. "We have USAA, Valero and H-E-B, but they're asked to sponsor every event we hold in San Antonio and they can only go so far."
The third factor working against San Antonio is the competition from other pro sports teams in Texas.
"Those owners are in the business to make money, and they don't want another franchise (to) come in and take spectators that have been following the Cowboys or the Texans or the Houston Astros for all these years," Bojanic said.
Bexar County and the city made a deal to buy Toyota Field to bring Major League Soccer to San Antonio. Two years later, it looks as though a team could relocate to Austin instead of San Antonio.
It could very well end up like the pitches made to the Florida Marlins and the Oakland Raiders. City and county leaders may have struck out again.
"When do we say, 'Enough is enough'?" Wolff said. "That's what I'm saying right now. That's exactly what I'm saying right now."
