Is Austin better off without a major league team? (Houston: transplants, broker)

[southwest1230]

I say Austin is much better off WITH a major league team. Stadiums aren't
really an issue here per tax referendums re football stadiums, as an NFL team could play at UT easily on Sundays. The question is, what
driver is a major league team in the growth of a large, but up and coming, city such as Austin? Are the city power brokers missing something by negating every attempt at building a stadia at this point, even nixing Nolan Ryan's bid to build a minor league stadia in Austin(after which RR and Dell
snapped it up)? Could or would Austin even support a major league team?
Are there just simply too many things to do here for the numbers needed?
How woulds the longhorns react as they no longer would be the exclusive
source of attention and sound bites on the daily sports pages and TV news
programs? What major league sport would be the easiest to implement at this
point? I say football, as UT already has a 100,000 seat stadium ready to be used on Sundays. Other cities the same size or smaller have at least one major league team.....examples: Green Bay, Kansas City, New Orleans, Jacksonville, Indianapolis(same size and TWO major sports teams, one a super bowl winner and undefeated), Milwaukee(same size and two majors),
Salt lake City, Columbus, Nashville, Memphis and Portland.
Would having a major league team or two bring Austin greater national
exposure?
Finally, my opinion is that at least one major team is badly needed in Austin.
It is mindnumbing for a newcomer to hear nothing but "burnt orange"
news 24/7 per local sports media. How many times, honestly, can you hear
the phrase "Hook 'em Horns" without tuning out the phrase completely?
An NBA team might be a great start as well, as Portland, exactly the same
size and even more isolated, has supported the Trailblazers for years. Maybe Mike Dell can show the same initiative as he did landing the Express,
and take the lead in landing a NBA or MLB franchise for Austin proper.
Well?

[imaterry78259]

I really see San Antonio and Austin getting a major league city real soon. Indianapolis has about 20 million people in an 180 mile radius, New Orleans has about 9 million in 200 mile radius plus it is a major world port and Miami has over 20 million visitors a year but only 25 go see the hapless Marlins who flirted with moving to San Antonio. Tampa Bay has only about 30 people go to their baseball game- so go figure

[case44]

That's a good question regarding Austin. The problem they have is their proximity to another Texas city, San Antonio, which is jockeying for second place with Dallas in city population. If Austin were over where Midland and Odessa are, then you might make a case for a major league team. I just can't see that happening, and it's unfortunate, too.

[Trainwreck20]

I think the 'problem' is, most of the long time Austin residents have no real intrest in a pro team.....more traffic, more hassle, city making deals to build new stadiums....ugh.

[statefan]

I would be all for the NHL coming to Austin. Texas really needs another team! Austin could draw in the fan bases from SA and Houston. That would really **** off the people north of the border! Another team in another untraditional market. The problem here is if does not involve the University of Texas, football or basketball, people could care less, especially if it is hockey!

[nativeDallasite]

Originally Posted by southwest1230

I say Austin is much better off WITH a major league team. Stadiums aren't
really an issue here per tax referendums re football stadiums, as an NFL team could play at UT easily on Sundays. The question is, what
driver is a major league team in the growth of a large, but up and coming, city such as Austin? Are the city power brokers missing something by negating every attempt at building a stadia at this point, even nixing Nolan Ryan's bid to build a minor league stadia in Austin(after which RR and Dell
snapped it up)? Could or would Austin even support a major league team?
Are there just simply too many things to do here for the numbers needed?
How woulds the longhorns react as they no longer would be the exclusive
source of attention and sound bites on the daily sports pages and TV news
programs? What major league sport would be the easiest to implement at this
point? I say football, as UT already has a 100,000 seat stadium ready to be used on Sundays. Other cities the same size or smaller have at least one major league team.....examples: Green Bay, Kansas City, New Orleans, Jacksonville, Indianapolis(same size and TWO major sports teams, one a super bowl winner and undefeated), Milwaukee(same size and two majors),
Salt lake City, Columbus, Nashville, Memphis and Portland.
Would having a major league team or two bring Austin greater national
exposure?
Finally, my opinion is that at least one major team is badly needed in Austin.
It is mindnumbing for a newcomer to hear nothing but "burnt orange"
news 24/7 per local sports media. How many times, honestly, can you hear
the phrase "Hook 'em Horns" without tuning out the phrase completely?
An NBA team might be a great start as well, as Portland, exactly the same
size and even more isolated, has supported the Trailblazers for years. Maybe Mike Dell can show the same initiative as he did landing the Express,
and take the lead in landing a NBA or MLB franchise for Austin proper.
Well?

An out-of-state newcomer may not like it but Austin itself has a strong tradition of supporting the Longhorns, and Texan transplants from other parts of the state are often Longhorn fans too. It'd be sad to destroy that tradition by forcing the Longhorns to compete for attention with a major league team. The atmosphere at a UT game is so different from that of an NFL team...it's more intimate, homey, and laid-back, not nearly as glitzy. There's something to be said for that.

As a UT alum, I never get sick of hearing about my team. Ever.

[love roses]

That would be my answer as well

[southwest1230]

I think, actually, one of the best things about a pro team is it acculturates out-of-towners to be a part of things much more readily than UT, which they may not be familiar with.It's not that newcomers hate UT, its just that you really have to literally
LOVE them, and pretty much be an alumni, to be able to stand the 24/7 solo sports coverage they get. I mean, when they got the new lady basketball coach from Duke,
I heard about that for 3 weeks straight. Pro teams appeal to everyone, and would
help get Austin's head out of its butt a wee bit. UT seems to encourage it to withdraw
within itself, like it usually does. I know for a fact that the people outside texas would be thrilled to cheer for someone besides an out-of-state college team they may only be remotely familiar with. Case it point, Columbus is almost exactly the same situation and population as austin, with a university that is if anything more omnipresent.
They just picked up an NHL team 2 years ago. Would that not be somewhat cool for
Austin to land one, so they have something besides roller derby to cheer about? LOL!

[malarkey]

Originally Posted by southwest1230

I say Austin is much better off WITH a major league team. Stadiums aren't
really an issue here per tax referendums re football stadiums, as an NFL team could play at UT easily on Sundays.

Thing of it is, an NFL team (or any professional team) isn't going to WANT to play in UT's stadium, they will want one of their OWN, and they'll want a new one every 10 years, or they'll threaten to move. Aren't your taxes high enough now?!

signed, Seattleite who has been there/done that!

[twange]

Originally Posted by southwest1230

I think, actually, one of the best things about a pro team is it acculturates out-of-towners to be a part of things much more readily than UT, which they may not be familiar with.It's not that newcomers hate UT, its just that you really have to literally
LOVE them, and pretty much be an alumni, to be able to stand the 24/7 solo sports coverage they get. I mean, when they got the new lady basketball coach from Duke,
I heard about that for 3 weeks straight. Pro teams appeal to everyone, and would
help get Austin's head out of its butt a wee bit. UT seems to encourage it to withdraw
within itself, like it usually does. I know for a fact that the people outside texas would be thrilled to cheer for someone besides an out-of-state college team they may only be remotely familiar with. Case it point, Columbus is almost exactly the same situation and population as austin, with a university that is if anything more omnipresent.
They just picked up an NHL team 2 years ago. Would that not be somewhat cool for
Austin to land one, so they have something besides roller derby to cheer about? LOL!

Being a newbie as well, I totally understand the ambivalence towards the Longhorns 24/7 coverage. I just moved here from Cleveland and I'm a diehard Browns, Cavs and Indians fan. That will never change. If that makes me less of an "Austinite", so be it. I'll contribute 100% in other ways.

I can understand though why long-time Austinites wouldn't want the Horns competing with other sports as it's one of the truly authentic old Austin traditions. There's probably the fear that once that changes, Austin will have truly changed...maybe too much so. I'm not sure if I agree with that but since I'm new here, my opinion probably doesn't carry much weight. I think the competition would be good for the city. I don't think the NFL is the right choice. I'm thinking baseball. That way there would only be a short overlap with the Longhorns. San Antonio doesn't have a team and Dallas and Houston are far enough away for that to work. After all, Detroit and Pittsburgh are only 2 1/2 hours away from Cleveland and those have become very good regional rivalries...not to mention Cinncinnati, Toronto, Indy and Buffalo which are between 4-5 hours.

Being from a 3 pro-sport town, I can tell you that it has advantages and disadvantages. In Cleveland's situation, a case could be made that money poured into the 3 newer(within the last 13 years) sports complexes could have been better utilized. The public schools are dreadful, the downtown mostly dead, no jobs, people leaving by the thousands, poor, under-utilized Lakefront and a general lack of energy and positivity. That being said, the people there LOVE their teams and in many ways, it's how most folks identify with their city. While it does have a Great Lake, beautiful Metro-parks, world-class orchestra and art museums, awesome theater district, most people just watch sports. That's the city's pulse. I'm not sure that's always such a healthy thing as I believe diversity in recreation is key to a healthy, positive city. Austin seems to have that, so I'm not sure if it necessarily needs a pro franchise.

It can bring money into the city as well. When the Cavaliers went to the NBA Finals last June(only to get drilled by the Spurs), the Convention and Visitors Bureau of Cleveland estimated that "each Finals home game brings $4.6 million into the local economy from hotel visits, game ticket sales, meals purchased around the arena and other direct spending. Earlier playoff rounds generated about $3.5 million per home game." The problem is when the teams aren't doing well, the owner's threaten to move, raise ticket prices, lobby for new stadiums(which the taxpayers build) etc...Trust me, things can go south. I lived through the Browns(one of the oldest, most beloved storied franchises in the NFL) dirty move to Baltimore and that DEVASTATED that city's morale. The team sucked, the stadium was crumbling, the fans STILL showed up every game and the pig owner moved the team anyway

Sorry if I'm still a little bitter about that one.

But there is a perception that in order to be considered a major city, you need a sports franchise. But I think that opens up the debate on whether Austin really wants to be considered a major city. I think there's disagreement about that as I constantly read on this forum, people pining the loss of "old Austin". The thing I fear, is that the while people fight to keep the city the way it is/was, it will continue to grow anyway, but without smart planning and forethought and turn into a sprawling mega-mess like L.A./Atlanta/ etc...I personally like big cities, but I like them to be live-able, without sitting in your car all of the time. Austin has an opportunity to become one of the best cities in the South/SW. Let's hope they get things done right.

BTW, here's a guy trying to get an MLB team in Austin:
The Case for MLB in Austin

And here's an article written last year:
Austin ready for big leagues - Sports