San Antonio mayor confident city will land NFL team

The city of San Antonio has made previous efforts to bring in an NFL team, and it sounds like they’d be eager to do so again if given the opportunity.

San Antonio mayor Ron Nirenberg said the city remains interested in an NFL team, but it is taking a more long-term approach to making itself a more attractive destination in the eyes of the league.

“If there’s not that corporate base, pro sports franchises look elsewhere. And one of the things that has hindered that corporate base for decades in San Antonio is the fact that we didn’t have enough workers to fill the positions that they would want to move here,” Nirenberg said, via RJ Marquez of KSAT.com. “That’s why we’re investing in our own people and access to education, access to skills training and workforce development. So when we want to take those jobs that are available, we have the people to do it. And that’s improving our economic trajectory. That’s also improving the prospects for pro sports here.

“I said I think last year or the year before, I think San Antonio is an NFL city within 10 years, I still stand by that. And that is because of the evolution that’s happening within the National Football League, the fact that it too is becoming an international league, particularly with its sights on Latin America.”

San Antonio made an ambitious play for the Raiders when that franchise was considering leaving Oakland, but they ultimately wound up in Las Vegas. Any move to the city might also have to overcome opposition from the Dallas Cowboys and Houston Texans, who would not appreciate any added competition for fans in Texas.

San Antonio can and has supported the Spurs, but an NFL franchise is an entirely different animal. Plus, at the moment, it’s not clear what franchises may be on the move in the years to come. And if one does move, the NFL may have a different idea of where they’d like it to go.