San Antonio Raiders? This is REAL folks!

[Raiders Man]

Whats Up OP Nation

I know that many of you guys could care less about the Raiders but this could be HUGE for the NFL and especially Austin and San Antonio. Below are some reason why moving to SA WOULD work. I am lived in the Bay Area and know the inner workings of the city and its business fairly well. The case study below is just MY OPINION. However, I feel that this could happen sooner or later depending on Jerry Jones and Bob McNair's influence on other owners.


• TV Market size of San Antonio is 36th in the US
- Current NFL teams in market size between 25-50;
Indianapolis (25- hosted a Super Bowl)
Baltimore (26)
San Diego (28)
Kansas City (31)
Jacksonville (47)
Nashville (29)
Buffalo (51)
New Orleans (53 – Host Super Bowls often)
Green Bay (70)

• Alamodome is not adequate to host NFL team
- Current team could play there for 3 years until new stadium and facilities are completed. Potential for future Super Bowl which would increase revenue for the greater San Antonio-Austin area.

• Not a large market with enough Fortune 500 companies.
- Look to Austin. Computer technology, oil and gas. Similar to bay area and close to capital of Texas (as similar to bay area being in close proximity to Sacramento). Besides the 49ers are the “darlings” of the bay area. Most corporate sponsors (both east bay and the SF peninsula) supported the 49ers financially better than the Raiders.

• San Antonio is Cowboys and Texans territory.
- San Antonio use to host Cowboys training camps in addition to Oxnard, CA. Dallas has new palatial facilities in Plano, TX. Texans really don’t have a very strong footprint in SA anyway. SA also boosts a very large Hispanic influence in which the Raiders were and still have been successful in engaging the Hispanic community and culture.

• According to Forbes the Raiders are “only” worth an estimated $850 million. Ranked in the lower 3rd of NFL teams.
- Miami Dolphins sold for over a billion dollars in 2008 and the Buffalo Bills are in line to fetch as much or more when the sale of the team is complete.

• Would the NFL want 3 teams in Texas?
- Why not? New York and Florida has 3 teams each. Texas is a huge football state. The same goes for Florida.
o Market size (NY state): New York is #1 and Buffalo is #51.
o Market size (Florida): Tampa is #13, Miami is #16, and Jacksonville is #47
o Market size (Texas): Dallas-Ft. Worth is #5, Houston is #10, and San Antonio is #37

• The Raiders don’t have any money to build a new stadium.
- Mark Davis stated that he has $400 million to put towards new stadium. That is adequate to start the process in a state that is less expensive than California. Cost of materials and labor will be a lot better than the current situation in California. He also desires a "smaller and intimate" stadium which would cost an estimated $600-$800 million. That is a lot more attainable that $1 billion plus

• Why not LA?
- Why LA? Although it is the 2nd largest TV market there is a reason that 3 NFL teams have left LA. The Davis family name and legacy would be detached from the Raiders in which Al Davis rebranded. Love him or hate him he has created one of the most iconic brands in sports history. Rumor is that current NFL power brokers “prefer” another ownership group to lead the proposed LA team.

• What about the threat the Raiders and NFL have on local universities (Texas and UT-SA)?
- The Raiders and 49ers have occupied the bay area for the better part of 50 years. Stanford and Cal-Berkeley have held their own as well. Both schools are Pac -12 schools while UT would be the bigger of 2 schools in south-central Texas.

• The biggest threat to not get this done would be the Dallas Cowboys and Houston Texans vote for relocation.

• Interesting notes:
- Commissioners Goodell’s and Robert Kraft opinion on getting a team in London by the end of the decade and a team or 2 in LA within 3-5 years.
- The NFL strongly considering owning a stadium in LA
- Mark Davis having first hand knowledge and experience of what his father dealt with in years past with LA and keeping the Raiders mystique (i.e. keeping the team in the Davis family)

[CM Hooe]

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