09 June 2005

San Antonio Spurned

MLS seems to be getting its headline writers from the New York Post with the "MLS to San Antonio: Drop Dead Forget the Alamo" type headline on the MLS homepage today. What's pretty clear is that to get a soccer specific venue, you need city support right now. In San Antionio, the new mayor was not going to let that happen. So MLS legitimately pulled out (though only seconds before/after the mayor was going to do the same). That being said, MLS's language here is unusually angry for a business venture. Maybe they're upset over what they feel is bad faith from San Antonio, or the rhetoric used in the campaign. But the inflammatory headline is not helpful if MLS truly believes that SA may represent an interesting future market. Politics is politics.

The other expansion options are interesting, and perhaps we'll look at them later.