Ivy Taylor, Mayor of San Antonio, announced Thursday the city and Bexar County plan to purchase Toyota Field in an effort to pursue an MLS team.
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As part of the deal, Spurs Sports & Entertainment (SS&E), which owns local National Basketball Association franchise San Antonio Spurs, will receive a 20-year lease to operate the stadium with the goal of landing an MLS expansion team.
City and county officials in San Antonio have agreed to purchase Toyota Field from San Antonio Scorpions owner Gordon Hartman with one eye on bringing Major League Soccer to the city. The Spurs will pay $3 million and then lease the stadium from the city and county on a long-term lease. San Antonio will have to convince MLS that it fits the criteria to host a franchise.
The deal, which will soon be put in front of city council and county commissioners for approval, is meant to create a clear path for the city to lure a Major League Soccer franchise to San Antonio.
When pressed for a timeline on expansion, Wolff expressed that they hope to be in MLS’ next wave of expansion after the league reaches 24 teams over the next three years.
The public-private partnership will buy Toyota Field from Hartman for $21 million. MLS will grow to 24 teams in the near future, as it adds clubs in Miami, Minnesota, Los Angeles and Atlanta to the 20 current franchises.
It could be a challenge because Major League Soccer has already identified the four new cities that would be expanding over the next two years. Sacramento Republic officials maintained their quest to secure a bid by releasing a team-commissioned study on Wednesday touting Sacramento as a comparable partner to cities like Kansas City, Orlando, Portland, Salt Lake City.
There are still plenty of hurdles between San Antonio and the highest level of domestic soccer. Austin, Indianapolis, Las Vegas and St. Louis have also indicated potential interest in bringing MLS to their cities.
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“Soccer’s demographics complement San Antonio”. Wolff said that MLS President Mark Abbott disclosed that the league will put together a list of potential candidates for the next round of expansion sometime next year.
