A grassroots movement is under way by avid soccer fans in the Austin area to erect a natural grass, soccer-specific stadium to be the new home of the Austin Aztex.
The movement, known as the Grassroots Austin Stadium Supporters (GRASS), envisions a stadium that is centrally located within the city — citing the fact that 35,000 Central Texan youths are currently involved in the sport, a core demographic to support the Aztex in the future. The group’s vision, while bold in its scope, remains a highly misguided initiative that instead can be directed toward a collaborative effort with UT’s Mike A. Myers Stadium, the home to Longhorn track and field and soccer teams.
GRASS’ Web site states that “with a few exceptions, UT generally does not allow its stadiums to be used by outside groups.” But this claim is unfounded, as the now-defunct Austin Wranglers used the Erwin Center as their home stadium from their inaugural year in 2004 to their final year in 2008.
The University has also made the Frank Erwin Center available to such “outside groups” as the Arena Football League, which cancelled its entire 2009 season for lack of funding, as well as the NBA, which will hold an exhibition game between the San Antonio Spurs and the Oklahoma City Thunder in October.
The United Soccer League, the league in which the Aztex play, is still going strong. Surely, UT would be able to see that a partnership with the Aztex would be a better investment than the one the University made with the Wranglers.
Soccer has taken a long time to finally gain sustainable popularity in the U.S., but the centuries-old game is staking its claim on Americas’ sports consciousness.
ESPN reported that the latest Union of European Football Association’s Champions League Final, the game between the top two European soccer clubs, reached 1.43 million homes across the nation. This is quite a feat for the sport to accomplish stateside.
There is definitely a demand for soccer, but not necessarily such that the city of Austin can afford to take the risk of funding a stadium that the Aztex can call their own.
The town of Sandy, Utah, erected a stadium for their Major League Soccer club, Real Salt Lake, that meets the desires of GRASS. The Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy has natural grass, seats 20,000 and has music venue capabilities. However, the Rio Tinto Stadium came with a hefty $115 million price tag.
An Aztex relocation to Mike A. Myers Stadium would be much more viable for both the city and the Aztex and would also bring in revenue for the University.
A good deal of the funding for new sports stadiums across the nation is met in part by the teams themselves.
The Aztex would be better served by taking advantage of the first-class, centrally located facility with a natural grass field that is already standing. UT could make extra revenue from a facility that is otherwise deserted during the Aztex regular season, which begins in April and ends in early September — a perfect filler between UT’s track and women’s
soccer seasons.
Instead of collecting dust on its 20,000 seats, the Mike A. Myers Stadium can fill those seats with fans and the concession stand registers with cash.
A partnership between UT and the Aztex is far from beyond reality, as the two entities have collaborated to stage a match between two of Mexico’s premier soccer clubs at Mike A. Myers Stadium in July. This game, dubbed “Copa Aztex,” is a testament to what can happen if this collaboration between the Aztex and UT is made permanent. It seems that GRASS’ ideals and UT’s resources must be united to pursue the best course of action for both parties.
Avelar is a government senior
