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Gold Cup Caps Primetime Run for San Antonio

By NICHOLAS MURRAY - nicholas.murray@uslsoccer.com, 07/04/17, 10:37AM EDT

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SAFC excited to take center stage with two weeks of high-profile games


Photo courtesy Darren Abate / San Antonio FC

If timing is everything, the arrival of the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup to San Antonio’s Alamodome on Sunday, July 16 couldn't have happened at a better time for San Antonio FC, or the city’s soccer fans.

“For us it’s going to be a really exciting weekend, and the culmination of an exciting two weeks, really, for soccer in San Antonio including some of the events that we’ll host through San Antonio FC at Toyota Field,” said SAFC Managing Director Tim Holt.

The final set of games in the tournament’s Group C, which see El Salvador face Jamaica before Curacao takes on Mexico, are set to cap off a remarkable two weeks for soccer in the city that begin on Wednesday night at Toyota Field, when Liga MX’s Chivas de Guadalajara and Club Atlas meet in a preseason exhibition in the Alamo City.

Add in two big games in-between for San Antonio FC itself, with an international exhibition against Liga MX’s Santos Laguna on Saturday night followed by a date on ESPNU with OKC Energy FC on July 14 in a crucial USL regular season contest, and the city of San Antonio and its fans will get a major national spotlight to kick off July.

“One of our objectives is to help grow the sport in San Antonio at all levels of the game, and awareness of the game,” said Holt. “We want San Antonio to be a destination in North America for big matches – whether they’re international exhibitions or continental championships or national team games – we really want to be part of that first group of places that games can not only be brought here and staged professionally, but also very well supported.

“San Antonio, the club, the fans, the market, city leaders all really have a chance to make some noise in the next couple of weeks, and we fully intend to take advantage of that.”


Photo courtesy Darren Abate / San Antonio FC

San Antonio FC itself has been flying high in the USL’s Western Conference this season, currently sitting second only to Real Monarchs SLC having suffered only one defeat in the first half of the season. Having bolstered its squad this offseason with some top players, the club is flying high at the box office too, averaging more than 7,000 fans per game this season, a clear indicator of the good health the club is in overall.

Getting the chance to host the Gold Cup for the first time is another feather in the city’s cap. Holt praised the efforts of local officials and San Antonio Sports in leading the drive to bring the tournament to the city, which is branching out to a handful of new locations this year. Among those are four cities with current USL clubs, with Phoenix, Tampa Bay and 2018 expansion market Nashville all playing host to games in the tournament.

“I think a lot of credit goes to CONCACAF and Soccer United Marketing and the folks that are doing that,” said Holt. “I think they’re looking first now to markets that have established professional teams, and that build-in network to be able to do that with MLS, sure, but also second division teams that are performing at a reasonably good level and that provide the foundation to build ticket sales around and awareness, and just amplify the message out there within the market.”


Photo courtesy Darren Abate / San Antonio FC

San Antonio’s fans will also get to see some of the standout performers from the current USL season when the Gold Cup arrives. USL leading scorer Romario Williams leads a quartet of the league’s players in Jamaica’s squad for the event, while Reno 1868 FC’s Junior Burgos is part of El Salvador’s squad.

“The first thing observationally is it show how far this league and its teams have come to have that many of its players competing in the Gold Cup at this stage,” said Holt. “It seems like there are more and more players from the USL who are being selected for their national teams to compete in an important event like this, which is exciting for everyone.

“To be able to have players like that here, it positively reinforces the strength of the USL and its teams for us in the market.”

With all the buildup now complete, Holt believes San Antonio FC and the city as a whole is ready for its close-up as it makes its case as one of the top-tier soccer markets in the United States.

“The Gold Cup is another opportunity for San Antonio to demonstrate we are that market,” said Holt. “For us in our second season, as we try to extend as a club and try to grow awareness about everything to do with the sport, to have this event there in the middle of this summer with the team having success too, it couldn’t be better timing.”

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