With the 2012 NFL season in full swing, weekend conversations will have a new vocabulary list that includes “long bombs,” “goal line stands,” “blitzes,” “interceptions” and “touchdowns”. Many enthusiastic NFL fans in San Antonio will wear their favorite team jerseys to promote their loyalty; however, those jerseys will not represent their own city. With no franchise to represent them, is there hope for San Antonio football fans?
According to Albert Breer’s article, published on nfl.com, rumors state that Los Angeles, the second largest media market, will be a new NFL home. The short list of teams that could move are the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Oakland Raiders, the St. Louis Rams, the San Diego Chargers and the Buffalo Bills. Sure, it makes perfect business sense, but smart business does not keep an NFL franchise in the city. Los Angeles knows that reality all too well.
In April 1995, the L.A. Rams found a better home in St. Louis. The Oakland Raiders left for L.A.’s bright lights in 1982 and won Super Bowl XVIII in 1983, nevertheless a Super Bowl ring couldn’t keep the Raiders in L.A., the black and silver moved back to Oakland in 1995 as well.
Both teams left Los Angeles because St. Louis and Oakland promised their respective owners better financial plans and a top class arena for teams to compete.
The lack of a suitable football stadium was the biggest hurdle in keeping an NFL team in Los Angeles. San Antonio, however, is a city ready to welcom an NFL Team.
Although cliché, the saying is true: football is a religion in Texas. Instead of a church, temple or mosque, the place of worship for many sports fans is the football field.
San Antonio,the seventh largest city in the U.S., is in the perfect position to support another professional sports team. If anyone doubts the passion for sports in the Alamo City, I invite you to see this city during the NBA season.
Passionate best describes the incredible enthusiasm of NBA fanshere. With 66,000 seats, 6,000 club seats and 38 suites, San Antonio’s Alamodome has housed the Spurs for 10 years. The Roadrunners’ passionate fans can also testify to awesome gameday experience in the Alamodome.
Located in downtown San Antonio, this stadium is perfect for an NFL franchise to thrive in the heart of the city. Opened in 1993, the Alamodome was built in hopes of housing an NFL franchise. Although that vision has yet to come to fruition, other events have taken advantage of the venue. UTSA’s football program recently signed a new deal to play in the Alamodome until 2035. The Alamodome was also the site of an NCAA record crowd for a program’s inaugural game as over 56,000 UTSA football fans became a part of history on Sept. 3, 2011.
For 20 years, some of the top college football programs have come to San Antonio and battled in the Valero Alamo Bowl. In 2011, over 65,000 fans watched Heisman-winning quarterback Robert Griffin III and the Baylor Bears defeat the University of Washington Huskies 67-56.
In 2008, the Alamodome hosted the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball final. 43,257 fans watched the Kanas Jayhawks defeated the Mempish Tigers for the NCAA Men’s title.
Other cities have thrived with multiple professional teams in the same city, and each team has gone on to become very successful in their respectful leagues. For example, both the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys and the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks have both won championships in their respectful leagues.
San Antonio already has the stadium and environment for a very successful relationship with the NFL. A Texas triangle of football teams would create new rivalries, just like it has in the NBA with the Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks and the San Antonio Spurs. Roger Goodell, commissioner of the NFL, San Antonio is ready for a franchise.
