From UTSA’s football success and athletic department growth to the San Antonio Missions’ new local ownership and the Spurs’ No. 1 draft pick, San Antonio’s sports teams are having a moment.
As part of the San Antonio Report’s weeklong CityFest 2023, Editor-in-Chief Leigh Munsil was joined at Frost Bank Center by leaders from the city’s sports organizations Wednesday to discuss the impact that sports can have on tourism and the economy, as well as fans.
There is a direct correlation between success in sports and the overall success of UTSA, said Lisa Campos, the university’s vice president for intercollegiate athletics. For example, UTSA’s football team, which is bowl-eligible for the fourth consecutive season and playing in a new conference, has been building buzz in a way that is helping them build new facilities, recruit new talent and otherwise capitalize on the Roadrunners’ recent winning seasons.
“It provides us great media exposure, national media exposure,” Campos said. “Last year alone, our total audience was 5.5 billion … so that is why we moved into the American [Athletic Conference] … to continue to provide UTSA — San Antonio — national recognition and brand identity.”
Bobby Perez, chief legal officer and general counsel of Spurs Sports & Entertainment, said these are “exciting times” for the organization, from the opening of The Rock at La Cantera to growth of the San Antonio FC soccer organization and the addition of Victor Wembanyama to the Spurs’ lineup.
“Every home event has been a playoff-like atmosphere, the fandom has increased, not only here in San Antonio, but I would say in our regional market,” Perez said. “… Our effort is to try to make sure we’re regionalizing our brand from Mexico up and down IH-35 to Austin, Texas. We’ll play two games in Austin in March of next year. So it’s certainly been a fantastic time and opportunity.”
Though it’s more than a year away, Jenny Carnes, president and CEO of San Antonio Sports, explained that there’s a very real economic impact of sports happenings like the upcoming 2025 Men’s Final Four here. When the city hosted the event in 2018, the economic impact was estimated at $185 million, and in 2025, Carnes said, event planners anticipate that number being about $220 million.
“San Antonio is a fan favorite for the Final Four — we’ve proven it over and over again,” Carnes said. “We’re looking forward to starting that planning process. We’re about to bring on a whole new staff to prepare for 2025.”
There was also discussion of the various organizations’ venue needs for the future — a hot topic in the city. In an interview that kicked off CityFest 2023, City Manager Erik Walsh said that a new taxing designation the city fought for in the most recent state legislative session will offer an additional tool to finance renovations of the convention center and the 30-year-old Alamodome.
San Antonio’s bid for the 2031 Final Four was rejected due to the question mark around Alamodome redevelopment, Carnes explained.
“We put in a strong competitive bid for San Antonio and we were turned down, unfortunately, even with our reputation and the success that we’ve had here,” Carnes said. “And the main reason, the sole reason why is that we don’t yet have a plan for what the future of the Alamodome is, beyond the $22 million of projects that are set to prepare for 2025.
“We’ve talked a lot about baseball stadiums downtown and the future of the Spurs, but the other part of that conversation right now is the future of the ‘Dome. … What does the next 30 years look like? To remain competitive we’ve got to think bigger as a city.”
Bob Cohen, a member of the San Antonio Missions’ ownership group, made no secret of the organization’s desire for a downtown stadium for the San Diego Padres’ Double-A affiliate that currently plays in Nelson W. Wolff Municipal Stadium on the city’s West Side.
“Sports facilities can be transformative to an area,” Cohen said. “We’ve talked a lot about being downtown — in the central business district or some place that’s centrally located in the city. Our vision is that a ballpark can be on par with what Hemisfair was, what the Alamodome is, what the commercialization of the River Walk was, the consolidation of the historic missions.
“That’s what a ballpark can be, and it can stand for generations.”
Asked if the Missions were eyeing the area around Hemisfair, Cohen said: “Putting together a stadium is a complex topic, to say the least. There’s a lot of work going on behind the scenes — we’re looking at financial models, funding models, economic impact analysis. Obviously we’re thinking about different options for locations.”
The Missions’ goal is to come up with a fully developed plan, he said, and “until we pull that all together, we’re not ready to talk about those kind of things” — but the team’s owners are focused on creating the best possible impact on the city and Bexar County.
“A minor league ballpark is a community gathering place,” Cohen said. “All generations can enjoy a night at the ballpark — there’s nothing like a night at the ballpark. What we want to do is make sure we keep adding to that.”
