TallySaint

NFL future in S.A. 'tough call,' study finds

Tom Orsborn
San Antonio Express-News Staff Writer



A feasibility study commissioned by the city paints a cautiously optimistic picture that an NFL team would enjoy financial success in San Antonio.

"It's not a slam dunk or a 100percent certainty, but I believe a team in San Antonio could be successful if certain pieces of the puzzle fall into place," the report's author, Patrick Rishe, said.

In the study, obtained by the San Antonio Express-News, Rishe predicted a San Antonio franchise would enjoy a two-year "honeymoon" highlighted by strong attendance and corporate support.

But Rishe warned in subsequent seasons the success of the franchise would hinge on the team's on-the-field performance and whether it could market itself regionally.

"If the team suffers from a prolonged drought from playoff contention, fan and corporate support may wane," he said.

Mayor Phil Hardberger and other city officials declined comment, saying they had yet to receive copies of the study.

The city contracted Rishe in October at a cost of $10,000 when it appeared the New Orleans Saints were considering permanent relocation to San Antonio.

The study was based on fan surveys collected during the Saints-Atlanta Falcons game Oct. 16 at the Alamodome. Rishe is an economics professor at Webster University in St. Louis who has been a consultant for Major League Baseball and the NCAA.

"The purpose of the study was to give (City Council) a rough sense of the feasibility of bringing professional football to San Antonio and whether it would succeed," Rishe said.

His conclusion?

"It's a tough call," Rishe said. "The region certainly has enough enthusiasm. Certainly for the short term, selling tickets would not be an issue. But because San Antonio is a smaller market relative to other NFL cities, there is cause for concern about the long-term sustainability of a franchise in San Antonio."

Based on data obtained from more than 530 surveys from the Saints-Falcons game, Rishe estimated the game's economic impact was $3.7 million for Bexar, Comal, Guadalupe and Wilson counties.

Rishe projected the per-season economic impact for the four-county region would be between $24 million and $37million during the honeymoon period. After that, it would fall to $20 million, he predicted.

Attendance also would dip, particularly if the team were to lose on the field, said Rishe. He pointed out that San Antonio ranks ahead of only New Orleans and Detroit among NFL teams in average household income at $43,516.

"It would be prudent for the team to use a far-reaching campaign to market the club," Rishe said. "For starters, that would mean reaching out to the more affluent Austin community."

The report makes no mention of the need for a new stadium or that San Antonio's television market ranks 37th in the country. The Alamodome has only 38 suites. New Orleans' TV market ranked 43rd before Hurricane Katrina, but the Louisiana Superdome has 137 suites. Reliant Stadium in Houston has 188 suites.

"The issue has never been attendance," County Judge Nelson Wolff said. "We have proved that a million times over with games here. The issue to the NFL is premium seating, advertising and television revenue. Whether we like it or not, the NFL looks at those three issues."

Said Marc Ganis, a Chicago-based sports industry consultant: "The Alamodome, as currently constituted, is inadequate as a permanent home for an NFL franchise. When it was designed and built it was fine, but the stadium arms race has increase exponentially the past 10 years."



The study also concluded that:

Fans were willing to pay ticket prices consistent with single-ticket and season-ticket averages for Saints games in New Orleans ($60 per ticket or about $600 per season ticket).

An NFL team in San Antonio likely would block at least $6million to $8 million annually in local money from being spent by fans attending NFL games in other cities.



http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/f....1c963632.html


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My Guardian Angel wears a hard hat.

BlackandBlue

Would this be before or after their tommy discount?

CheramieIII

I agree B and I really don't understand what Benson is thinking. Texas or it's citizens are not going to fork over 15 to 20 million a year to subsidize another NFL team when the Cowboys and Texans aren't receiving the same subsidies. True Dat!

It's easy for the citizens to say they would pay $60.00 a ticket when they have not had to do so to date. Mr. Benson spent his Louisiana subsidies to pay for tickets and passed them out to anyone that would take it.

If I was given a pair of tickets for an NFL game and didn't even like football I would go to the game.

Golf and sex are about the only things you can enjoy without being good at them.
Jimmy Demaret

TheDeuce

This whole thing is BS. Tagliabue has come out and said that the Saints are going to be in New Orleans beyond 2006. To go back on that now would be to commit public image suicide.

CheramieIII

Amen my brother!

xan

Deuce, I don't think that's the point of this thread. The relocation/expansion issues hinge on the NFL maximizing their exposure. They already get tremendous coverage in Texas with the two teams there. They risk losing exposure in the gulf south if they abandon it. There are roughly 8 million potential viewers in the Saints cachement area that could potentially not involve themselves in Sunday football should the NFL abandon it. LA, despite the failures, has the potential for increasing Sunday tv exposure should a team relocate there. (Having spent some time in LA, many of those who follow the NFL would rather watch as many as 7 games on a Sunday and not have a local team than have one and be limited to watching whatever the local product is offered.) It is unclear whether having a team in SA would increase the NFL's exposure. The unwritten crux of the analyst is that an owner is not going to make any more money in San Antonio than in New Orleans (and most definitely less when present stadium and public subsidies are factored in). What will motivate a change is a hostile fan base which also doesn't watch the NFL's other offerings.

Owners will make more from the TV contracts than stadium sales. The league's ultimate goal is to maximize the exposure to ensure that the networks can charge local and national advertisers a higher rate to pay for the TV contract.

As an aside, and not to sound insensitive, my guess is that the average household income of the Greater New Orleans area increased as 100,000 welfare squatters have been displaced. I'd like to see those average household income numbers updated to see how we compare. (rediculously simple math could indicate that if there were 400,000 families pre Katrina, and 360,000 after, with the balance being welfare types, AHI would increase from $32.7K to $36.3K (Orleans/Jefferson), which would be much closer to the $38.3K of San Antonio (1999 census)). The difference would be smaller if one included Plaquemines and Slidell and the North Shore...

I find it interesting that the further one gets from New Orleans, the higher the AHI. Not true for many cities.

TallySaint

I don't know that I trust Benson. What's that Wizard of Oz line?

"Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!"



Correct. Just passing the article along to keep up with what's going on over SA way.





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