Future pro sports face uphill battle if they want to come to Austin

The hype surrounding Austin’s very first major league sports team sparks a new question: could the area see even more professional sports?

AUSTIN, Texas - Austin FC’s debut has done nothing but grow excitement across the capital city.

"You couldn’t be in that stadium and not feel the spirit in the city. It was pulling people together from all over the city," said Austin Mayor Steve Adler.

The hype surrounding Austin’s very first major league sports team sparks a new question: could the area see even more professional sports? FOX 7 Austin spoke with Adler on the possibility of NFL, MLB, NBA, and other sports coming to Austin.

"Traditionally the city has resisted having a major league presence in a sport," Adler said.

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While Adler didn’t want to rule anything out in Austin’s future, he said the city isn’t actively looking. However, Austin wasn’t looking for any sports when Major League Soccer presented the idea to the Austin City Council about three years ago.

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"When Major League Soccer came here inquiring it was kind of in secret. It was during a time when they were soliciting expansion team proposals for cities around the country and when they came to Austin we were not one of the cities that had submitted an application so I was a little confused by the inquiry and proposal," said Adler.

If a professional sports team is interested in coming to the capital city, Adler said it wasn’t going to be easy. It was quite the uphill battle for Austin FC to get to the city and sparked a lot of controversy. These other sports would have to face very similar problems. the biggest one being the stadium.

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Adler made it very clear Austin has no interest when it comes to funding the build. "I’m not sure if other major-league sports would come to town and build their own stadium, that precedent hasn’t been set yet but for right now, I think everyone is excited about soccer," he said.

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While Adler feels for Austin the focus right now is on soccer, many nearby cities are open for a new professional sports team.

The city of Round Rock said, "If a major league team expressed interest in locating in Round Rock, we’d certainly be open to sitting down and having a conversation with them."

When asked what sport Adler would like to see next in Austin, he felt a women’s soccer team would be a good addition to the city.