With Major League Soccer appeared poised to bypass San Antonio in favor of locating a franchise in Austin, Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff, who has led the fight for big time pro soccer in San Antonio, is floating an intriguing possibililty--how about San Antonio having a franchise in Mexico's top soccer league?
"My belief would be that if we could do that, we would be better off than we would be with Major League Soccer," Wolff told News Radio 1200 WOAI.
Indeed, Mexico's top pro soccer league, called 'Liga MX,' is widely considered to be the best soccer league in the Western Hemisphere, the equal to the top soccer leagues in Europe, where MLS does not have that distinction.
And when it comes to attendance, Liga MX draws more fans that any pro sports league in any sport in the Americas except for the NFL and Major League Baseball.
Wolff says the decision on whether to pursue this radical possibility would have to be made by Spurs Sports and Entertainment, he points out that when SS&E has sponsored soccer matches at the Alamodome featuring Mexico's national team or Mexican league teams, attendance has been huge.
"We draw from a larger area when we do have them here," he said. "Fans know they are playing a higher degree of soccer."
Wolff blasted the MLS, which appears ready to approve the move of the existing franchise in Columbus Ohio to Austin, which is considering building a new stadium. Because of the short distance between San Antonio and Austin, that would effectively shut out San Antonio from any opportunity to capture an MLS franchise.
Wolff talks at length about soccer in an appearance tonight on the KLRN-TV program 'On the Record.'