Originally Posted by :
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Earlier this year, Austin became home to its first professional sports franchise when Austin FC kicked off its inaugural Major League Soccer season. But now, a report from ESPN says that a different kind of pro football team could call Central Texas home.
According to a tweet from Seth Wickersham, a writer at ESPN.com, the NFL’s Buffalo Bills are considering a move to Austin as a leverage play to get public funding for a new, $1.5 billion stadium. The Buffalo News reports team owners are asking taxpayers to pay for 100% of the new stadium.
More at link because it's littered with links. [Reply]
Originally Posted by RealSNR:
All people in Austin are already one of three things:
1. Exclusively Longhorn fans who don't care about the NFL
2. Cowboy fans
3. Weirdo goth hipster dipshits who don't care about football
The Cowboys have actually been out of contention longer than the Texans,
and I think Austin would jump at the chance to have their own NFL franchise.
Ideally an arrangement could be worked out between Austin and SA and the
stadium built on I-35 between the two metro areas.
The only reason the longhorn are popular is that there isn't a local NFL team.
Same thing in SoCal before the Rams moved back home. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Bump:
I think it's time for an NFL expansion, because why not? Have 2 more teams, 1 in Austin and 1 somewhere else maybe OKC or wherever else that would be good.
Already talk of expansion both in number of games (to 18) and number of teams (to 34, at first). Once they reach the limit on number of games, the only way to generate more revenue is to add teams.
Adding more games would mean needing to expand rosters (about time that happened anyway) and increasing costs, so adding more teams seems the most likely way to expand.
Staying in the U.S. instead of going international (remember all the pre-Covid international b.s.?) makes sense. But I doubt if they would put 2 teams so close together as Austin and OKC, as there is more ad revenue yo be made on the coasts. [Reply]
I'd hate to see the Bills leave. They have a pretty rabid fanbase and a lot of history there. Why not take one of the stupid Florida teams that nobody cares about? [Reply]
Originally Posted by Mama Hip Rockets:
I'd hate to see the Bills leave. They have a pretty rabid fanbase and a lot of history there. Why not take one of the stupid Florida teams that nobody cares about?
The fanbase is leaving too though. I personally know like five Bills fans in Austin alone and I have only been there once (and never been to Buffalo) [Reply]
Originally Posted by Bowser:
I mean, any fan base in Vegas?
That state had no team and geographically it was not as far. The fans will burn down Buffalo if this happens. The youtube hate videos would be epic and hilarious. [Reply]