The city’s 28-year-old stadium is not a state-of-the-art facility anymore.
At one time, and it was not too long ago, San Antonio political and business leaders were trying to convince Major League Baseball’s Florida Marlins’ owner Jeffrey Loria that it would be in his best interest if he moved his baseball business from South Florida to the Texas city. In April 2006, San Antonio and Bexar County officials were willing to put up $200 million in public funds for a ballpark if voters approved extending a tax hike on hotel and motel rooms along with car rentals. Loria was playing San Antonio against Miami in a bid to get a new baseball stadium in South Florida. Eventually he would get a Miami facility. Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff, who was pushing for Loria to bring his business to the city, gave up on MLB and tried to get a Major League Soccer franchise. That never materialized.
Wolff is back pushing for a sports property but this time he is looking to retain the city’s minor league baseball team. The San Antonio 28-year-old ballpark does not meet Major League Baseball’s facility standards. The San Antonio Missions’ business is the San Diego Padres franchise’s Double-A affiliate. “There’s a little bit more of a push to get (a new stadium) or we’ll probably lose the franchise,” Wolff said. “I don’t think Major League Baseball has made any hard deadline. But they made it clear, I think, that we’re going to have to have something moving forward.” Major League Baseball runs Minor League Baseball and MLB is using it’s the my way or it’s the highway approach. If you want to keep your affiliation or do business with us, this is what you must do. Have a ballpark up to our standards and San Antonio leaders have decided to try and build a new park because they want to remain a minor league city.
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