Sports in Austin

[N90]

Originally Posted by Novacek

Do you know how often those get updated? Do they correct based on yearly census estimates, or do they wait for the actual decennial census?

They release DMA media market ranks every year in September.

This year HOU will surpass DC and SFBA for #6. In 2-3 years DFW will surpass Philly for #4. HOU will surpass Philly in 5-7 years for #5.

[clubtokyo]

And Vegas is getting the Raiders... Austin can surely get one pro team of something....

[OU812]

Austin is always going to be one of those anomaly cities that won't ever have a pro sports team. Well, never say never but it might not be for another 20-30-40-50 years.

Best chance at a pro team would probably be via MLS, but gosh, isn't their season sometime during our "8-month" summer"? I guess some people like the heat here, but I know a lot of people don't (me included and I've spent my whole life here). Who wants to sit outside in 95 degree heat and 95% humidity for hours on end? I guess they do it in Houston and Dallas so what do I know.

Speaking of Houston and Dallas AND San Antonio. Their relatively close proximity also makes Austin a weird location to try and squeeze in a pro team. At some point Austin will likely surpass SA in population (if it hasn't already) which will make it a more attractive choice.

BTW would be cool if the Buffalo Bills were to move here!! The city of Buffalo is smaller than Austin and I hear their attendance isn't that great. Hmmm....the "Austin Buffalos"??? Or the Austin Bills?? lol

[N90]

Again guys, I think we're looking far too much into things we don't have control of or things that make us different.

I think if our metro reaches a certain number of people like 5 million and has a media market of 2 million households then pro leagues will have no choice but to expand or relocate into ATX. It's stupid for them to not do it because they'd leave so much revenue money on the table and with an area of that size it will easily supersede just UT in sports demand. A metro of 5 million is more than just a city with a college identity. ATX's total personal income is already high for a place it's size. At 5 million multiple pro leagues will come knocking.

I think we're 30-33 years away from reaching 5 million people, so we have a lot of time to plan our infrastructure.

Still I can't help but feel that Texas is always getting hosed, not just at pro sports teams but in other things too. I want market corrections. It would be nice if ATX gets 5 million people and SA gets to 4 million, preferably 5 million also but with SA it's much slower growing than ATX. At that size, both metros could support their own teams without entrenchment from the other. They'll have the size for it. I do think we should share airports but sports are more personal, would be better if SA has its own and we have our own.

[We vs us]

Originally Posted by OU812

Austin is always going to be one of those anomaly cities that won't ever have a pro sports team. Well, never say never but it might not be for another 20-30-40-50 years.

This.

[clubtokyo]

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/n...s.html?ana=fbk

[wwmiv]

For the life of me, I don't understand why Rugby, Cricket, and Kickball aren't bigger team field sports in the U.S.

If I/we are going to talk about Fortune 500 involvement in sports, we're overlooking a big one: motorsports. Fortune 500 companies have historically sponsored these "teams" more than any other. Obviously, because of the nature of these sports, just having a venue is the equivalent to having a team:

NASCAR (Natl Assoc. of Stock Car Auto Racing) "major league" have races in these media markets:

LA (California Speedway)
Orlando (Daytona Motor Speedway)
Indianapolis (Indianapolis Motor Speedway)
~Detroit (Michigan Intl Speedway) (? - not sure about this market placement)
~Philadelphia (Pocono Raceway) (? - not sure about this market placement)
Birmingham (Talladega Superspeedway)
Atlanta (Atlanta Motor Speedway)
Charlotte (Charlotte Motor Speedway)
Chicago (Chicagoland Motor Speedway)
Myrtle Beach (Darlington Raceway)
Philadelphia (Dover Intl. Raceway)
Miami (Homestead-Miami Speedway)
Kansas City (Kansas Speedway)
Cincinnati (Kentucky Speedway)
Vegas (Las Vegas Motor Speedway)
Boston (New Hampshire Motor Speedway)
Phoenix (Phoenix Intl Raceway)
DFW (Texas Motor Speedway)

IndyCar:

Indianapolis (Indianapolis Motor Speedway)
Philadelphia (Pocono Raceway)
Milwaukee (Milwaukee Mile)
Nashville (Nashville Superspeedway)
Phoenix (Phoenix Intl Raceway)
Colorado Springs (Pikes Peak Intl Raceway)
DFW (Texas Motor Speedway)
Des Moines (Iowa Speedway)


Formula1 is just in Austin. That's countable as a pro-sports team -ish provided it stays here.

[AwesomeSAView]

Originally Posted by wwmiv

For the life of me, I don't understand why Rugby, Cricket, and Kickball aren't bigger team field sports in the U.S.

If I/we are going to talk about Fortune 500 involvement in sports, we're overlooking a big one: motorsports. Fortune 500 companies have historically sponsored these "teams" more than any other. Obviously, because of the nature of these sports, just having a venue is the equivalent to having a team:

NASCAR (Natl Assoc. of Stock Car Auto Racing) "major league" have races in these media markets:

LA (California Speedway)
Orlando (Daytona Motor Speedway)
Indianapolis (Indianapolis Motor Speedway)
~Detroit (Michigan Intl Speedway) (? - not sure about this market placement)
~Philadelphia (Pocono Raceway) (? - not sure about this market placement)
Birmingham (Talladega Superspeedway)
Atlanta (Atlanta Motor Speedway)
Charlotte (Charlotte Motor Speedway)
Chicago (Chicagoland Motor Speedway)
Myrtle Beach (Darlington Raceway)
Philadelphia (Dover Intl. Raceway)
Miami (Homestead-Miami Speedway)
Kansas City (Kansas Speedway)
Cincinnati (Kentucky Speedway)
Vegas (Las Vegas Motor Speedway)
Boston (New Hampshire Motor Speedway)
Phoenix (Phoenix Intl Raceway)
DFW (Texas Motor Speedway)

IndyCar:

Indianapolis (Indianapolis Motor Speedway)
Philadelphia (Pocono Raceway)
Milwaukee (Milwaukee Mile)
Nashville (Nashville Superspeedway)
Phoenix (Phoenix Intl Raceway)
Colorado Springs (Pikes Peak Intl Raceway)
DFW (Texas Motor Speedway)
Des Moines (Iowa Speedway)


Formula1 is just in Austin. That's countable as a pro-sports team -ish provided it stays here.

Pro-sports team??
That might be a bit of a stretch....

I would consider that more of an "entertainment not competitive" sport.
And by not competitive, I mean not competing against another "city team".

[clubtokyo]

.

[wwmiv]

Originally Posted by AwesomeSAView

Pro-sports team??
That might be a bit of a stretch....

I would consider that more of an "entertainment not competitive" sport.
And by not competitive, I mean not competing against another "city team".

Pro-sports team -ish.

They compete in teams. It just isn't as city v. city.

[N90]

Formula 1 is a popular sport globally more than it is in the US where it is completely taken for granted due to the presence of NASCAR and the Indy 500, not to mention the Big 5 sports leagues, college, etc.

F1 is a prestigious sport. There's a high level of prestige involved with the sport, their sponsors, clients, consumer base, etc.

I like that ATX is gobbling up these rare sports that fit more of the global mold than the US mold. ATX should find a way to host the US Cricket team permanently and host all the other individual sports related to swimming, biking, running, tennis, racketball, skate boarding, etc. I think getting events like BMX and getting sports like F1 or MotoGP are a great way to great an international brand for the city. We should also lure lacrosse or rugby.

I think pro sports in the Big 5 of NHL, NFL, NBA, MLS, and MLB will come one day in Austins future when ATX is undeniably a big market and metro but for now we should take command of other types of sports and events.

[lzppjb]

Austin: Home of Disc Golf

[drummer]

Originally Posted by lzppjb

Austin: Home of Disc Golf

Ironically, there is a PDGA....


That said, while Austin proper may never get a pro sports team of its own, the suburbs might - San Marcos, Cedar Park, or Round Rock. The latter two would especially be well geared for that given the culture of each. As stated multiple times by me and a thousand others, San Marcos is geographically advantageous for this.

Actually, while I wouldn't personally be a huge fan of this idea, what do you guys think of some sort of stadium/mixed use development partnership near the Cedar Park Center? There's a big chunk of open land south and west of it immediately adjacent to its property and then there's even more open land just across 183A. I could see potentially happen like Toyota Stadium (FC Dallas), Dr. Pepper Ballpark (Frisco Roughriders), or The Star (Cowboys practice facility/MUD) - all of which are in Frisco.

Edit: The other thought that came to mind when considering this general area is the possibility of a Cedar Park station on the Red Line just around there (Bell Blvd & New Hope / 1431) that could help get folks to and from the area.

[electricron]

Another consideration major pro leagues look at is finding local owners and local business support. It really doesn't look great when the local minor league owners aren't from the Austin area; the hockey team is from Dallas, the basketball team is from San Antonio, and the baseball team is from the Houston area.

Where are the local Austin owners? COTA?

The first step attracting a major league team, even MLS, should be finding a local owner group willing to invest time, money, and effort needed to land a major league franchise.


Austin needs to prove it can operate and support a minor league franchise before seeking others who live elsewhere to move their major league franchise to Austin.

Dallas had two local owners wishing to bring major league football teams into Dallas.
Dallas had one local owner wishing to bring major league basketball team to Dallas.
It had proven itself to be a lucrative major league market to the world,
A failing major league hockey team owned by a non local decided to give Dallas a chance. Dallas had already built an arena to host the basketball team which didn't need ice but Dallas installed ice anyways just in case. Without having the ice, ice hickey may have never moved to Dallas. It didn't take long to find local owners to cement the teams ties.
Likewise, Dallas attracted a failing major league baseball team from another non local owner. In this case Arlington quickly expanded a fairly large minor league ball park. I didn't take long to find a local owner to cement the teams ties to the metroplex.

There was more than just the city's population that attracted the major league teams. There was also lots of available money in the hands of people who wanted to owned major league teams.

Who from Austin has ever submitted plans to any major league to bring a franchise, either from league expansion or team displacement, to Austin? When you can answer that, stand back and watch it happen! It might take years to get it done.

But it will not happen until someone from Austin wants to own a major league team.

[Austin1971]

Michael Dell spends a couple billion of his 20+ billion fortune to buy the Statesman tract, builds a world class arena and buys a NHL team to occupy it. Done deal. Add in all the other events it could host and boom you have one hell of an entertainment district.

[AwesomeSAView]

Originally Posted by electricron

Another consideration major pro leagues look at is finding local owners and local business support. It really doesn't look great when the local minor league owners aren't from the Austin area; the hockey team is from Dallas, the basketball team is from San Antonio, and the baseball team is from the Houston area.

Where are the local Austin owners? COTA?

The first step attracting a major league team, even MLS, should be finding a local owner group willing to invest time, money, and effort needed to land a major league franchise.


Austin needs to prove it can operate and support a minor league franchise before seeking others who live elsewhere to move their major league franchise to Austin.

Dallas had two local owners wishing to bring major league football teams into Dallas.
Dallas had one local owner wishing to bring major league basketball team to Dallas.
It had proven itself to be a lucrative major league market to the world,
A failing major league hockey team owned by a non local decided to give Dallas a chance. Dallas had already built an arena to host the basketball team which didn't need ice but Dallas installed ice anyways just in case. Without having the ice, ice hickey may have never moved to Dallas. It didn't take long to find local owners to cement the teams ties.
Likewise, Dallas attracted a failing major league baseball team from another non local owner. In this case Arlington quickly expanded a fairly large minor league ball park. I didn't take long to find a local owner to cement the teams ties to the metroplex.

There was more than just the city's population that attracted the major league teams. There was also lots of available money in the hands of people who wanted to owned major league teams.

Who from Austin has ever submitted plans to any major league to bring a franchise, either from league expansion or team displacement, to Austin? When you can answer that, stand back and watch it happen! It might take years to get it done.

But it will not happen until someone from Austin wants to own a major league team.

AGREE 100%

[ILUVSAT]

I'd love to see a MLB team land in Austin. I believe they would have great attendance concidering the Express have been in the Top 3 or 4 in all minor league attendance since their inception. Also, they have been #1 or #2 in overall attendance in their respective league 16 of 17 years of existance.

I really think that if a MLB team finds a home in Austin, it will do well.

As far as the Big 3 in pro sports, the MLB is Austin's best chance for a franchise. After that, I'd say MLS.

[deerhoof]

https://twitter.com/mlsinaustin/stat...30260703637505

"Yes, we’ve heard about a rumored “big announcement” tomorrow regarding #Austin & #soccer.
We haven’t posted anything about it for a reason."

[drummer]

Originally Posted by deerhoof

https://twitter.com/mlsinaustin/stat...30260703637505

"Yes, we’ve heard about a rumored “big announcement” tomorrow regarding #Austin & #soccer.
We haven’t posted anything about it for a reason."

I saw that too! I'm intrigued...

[loonytoony]

Originally Posted by drummer

I saw that too! I'm intrigued...

KVUE is stoking the rumor mill as well:

http://kxan.com/2017/07/26/major-aus...red-for-today/