More than 60 million people in the United States tuned in to watch the FIFA World Cup Final last month as one of the biggest sporting events in the world played out across North America.
San Antonio FC is betting that some of those millions — whether they’re old fans or new soccer fans — will be interested in watching professional soccer in San Antonio.
This month, San Antonio FC is running a free ticket promotion, inviting fans to come see their first game at Toyota Field. The marketing effort comes as changes to the team mulls its future in a changing U.S. soccer landscape.
In 2028, the United Soccer League, or USL, is launching a new, higher-level professional league. The new division, called USL Premier, would be at the same level as Major League Soccer, currently the United States’ top professional league.
San Antonio FC currently plays in the USL Championship, a division of soccer teams below the MLS. The team is seeking back-to-back playoff appearances this season and won the USL Championship title in 2022.
“We’ve really worked at becoming one of the top, if not the top, division two team in this country. So it’s something we’re looking at,” said Jose Lizardo, operations director at Toyota Field.
Free tickets in August
Lizardo said the team is letting fans who have never attended a game come to its USL Cup game against Miami FC, the quarterfinals of an in-season tournament similar to the NBA Cup, on Aug. 12 or its regular season game against Oakland Roots SC on Aug. 22. Tickets for these games range from $18 to $77.
Lizardo said interested fans can fill out a form on the team’s website. Then, sales representatives from San Antonio FC will reach out with the ticket.
The team timed its promotion to capture some of the energy and interest in the World Cup, Lizardo said.
“We’ve got a lot of new eyes on soccer,” he said. “We sat down and said when is the best time and it was after the World Cup,” he said.
San Antonio FC is betting that fans who go to one game will come back, he added.
A premier opportunity?
In February 2025, USL announced its plan to launch a new, higher-level soccer league called USL Premier.
USL has operated as a series of lower divisions or minor leagues for soccer in the U.S. since 2000. That is headlined by the USL Championship, a 25-team league San Antonio FC plays in, and the 17-team USL League One a step below. USL League 2, with 158 teams, is the lowest tier.
All of those USL leagues are currently ranked below Major League Soccer (MLS) by the U.S. Soccer Federation. MLS teams like FC Dallas, Houston Dynamo or Inter Miami, where global sports icon Lionel Messi plays, have bigger budgets, larger stadiums and tend to attract better players.
But USL Premier will soon have the same status as the MLS in the eyes of the U.S. Soccer Federation. At least three teams have already applied for USL Premier or announced intentions to apply — Louisville City FC, Pittsburgh Riverhounds and North Carolina FC.
Lizardo said San Antonio FC is considering its options.
“It’s a very unique, very interesting opportunity that USL is working on for us. You know, we’re looking at it in detail to make sure that it’s something that makes sense for our club,” he said.
Moving up a rung comes with new requirements. Lizardo said USL Premier could require increased expenditures and facility upgrades — U.S. Soccer requires teams in the top division to have stadiums with a capacity of 15,000. Toyota Field fits less than 9,000 attendees for soccer games.
There are also opportunities for increased revenue.
“Our entire leadership is looking at everything — how that would affect the on field situation, any upgrades that may be needed to this facility,” Lizardo said. “Then we’re looking at what the league is providing the teams, whether there is a TV deal.”
It’s the second time in the last decade that an opportunity for top-tier soccer has come to San Antonio. Spurs Sports and Entertainment collaborated with the City of San Antonio and Bexar County to try and bring an MLS team to the area starting in 2015.
That bid failed. Austin ultimately landed an MLS franchise and the Spurs owners recently promised to pay $2.5 million to upgrade the city- and county-owned Toyota Field as compensation for the failure.
But San Antonio FC, which Spurs Sports and Entertainment started in 2015 to coincide with its MLS bid, has been successful over the past decade. The team has also established San Antonio FC 2, a developmental team that plays in the USL League Two.
If San Antonio FC decides not to pursue the USL Premier opportunity, the door to top division soccer isn’t closed.
The USL’s new system will mirror major European soccer leagues with a promotion and relegation system. The teams that do the worst each year in the USL Premier will drop down to a lower league, while the most successful teams in those lower leagues would be able to climb up.
This story first appeared in the San Antonio Report.
