Play Ball

Is Major League Baseball on deck for Austin-San Antonio?

Talk continues to churn about Major League Baseball stepping up to the plate in our region.

While folks chew over the tantalizing possibility of an NFL team and stadium in the Austin-San Antonio corridor, talk continues to churn about Major League Baseball also stepping up to the plate in our region.

No official plans for planting a Major League Baseball franchise in Austin or San Antonio are in the works, but that hasn’t stopped sports pundits from going to bat for the idea.

Writer Jesse Spector recently ranked San Antonio as the No. 2 market for a new Major League Baseball (MLB) team. On Spector’s list, San Antonio sits just behind Montreal and just ahead of Las Vegas.

In explaining the attractiveness of San Antonio as an MLB locale, Spector writes: “A city that has enjoyed a 50 percent spike in population in the last 25 years is ripe to become more than a one-sport town, and San Antonio is a place where baseball would not have to compete with the NFL for Texans’ sporting affection.”

If not San Antonio, then Spector says Austin would be “appealing” as an MLB location.

However, Spector goes on to point out that population growth alone does not translate into interest in MLB and suggests that the state’s two MLB teams — the Texas Rangers and the Houston Astros — might not be wild about a third franchise popping up in Texas. Spector says Major League Soccer actually might be a better fit for San Antonio.

San Antonio has just one major-league sports team, the NBA’s Spurs, and Austin has none. Both areas do have minor-league baseball teams though: the San Antonio Missions and the Round Rock Express.

Spector isn’t the only sports writer who’s cited San Antonio and Austin as possible MLB expansion cities.

Writing last year for The Hardball Times, an online magazine about baseball, Chris Mitchell pegged Austin at No. 3 on a list of potential MLB expansion markets, behind San Jose, California, and Las Vegas, but well ahead of San Antonio (No. 13).

Mitchell describes Austin as an “excellent landing spot” for an MLB team.

While Texas already is home to two MLB teams, Mitchell says there’s plenty of room for a third team in the Lone Star State, with Austin looking “good” demographically. Mitchell cites Austin’s male-heavy and relatively young population as well as its status as one of the few big U.S. cities lacking a major-league sports team. On top of that, Mitchell touts Austin’s comparatively high income levels and burgeoning economy.

In support of the Alamo City, Jarrod Brogdon, co-founder of the MLBinSanAntonio campaign, says San Antonio would be an “extremely attractive target” for MLB.

Writing last year for The Rivard Report, Brogdon explained that the MLBinSanAntonio initiative “is not your traditional attempt to lure an existing team from its home and convince them to move to San Antonio. This is not even one wealthy investor looking to purchase a new hobby. This starts with the people of San Antonio, Austin, and South Texas organically spreading the word and raising their hand for San Antonio.”

Keeping San Antonio and Austin in the MLB on-deck circle are a couple of factors:

Neither place has a stadium large enough to accommodate an MLB team. Building a pro-level baseball stadium would cost hundreds of millions of dollars, and taxpayers likely would be on the hook for much of the tab.
Both areas are relatively small TV markets. TV rights are a huge moneymaker for MLB franchises.

Baseball blogger Todd Boss notes that existing small-market MLB teams — teams in places like San Antonio and Austin — “struggle to compete financially with teams from the large cities.” He advises that it would be a “huge mistake” to locate a team in many of the small markets often mentioned as MLB expansion candidates, meaning that San Antonio and Austin could be waiting in the MLB bullpen for a long time to come.

In 2015, Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff cautioned against getting too revved up about MLB possibly coming to San Antonio. “Frankly, unless the league is at the table saying they support it, you can be wasting a lot of time,” said Wolff, who tried unsuccessfully in 2006 to woo MLB’s Florida Marlins.

Wolff said that even though the Austin-San Antonio corridor, with more than 4 million residents, could hold appeal for MLB, the region’s sports energies are best directed toward attracting a Major League Soccer team and supporting minor-league baseball.

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High Score

Austin named the nation's pickleball capital in industry report

Photo by Henry Selis Photo

Other Racquet Social Club is back after city woes.

It's no secret that Austinites love pickleball. A new study proves just how much by ranking Austin the No. 1 city for pickleball in the whole country. Dallas and Houston also made the top 10 at Nos. 3 and 8, respectively.

The report was published by TeachMe.To, an online marketplace for learning sports (and sometimes music) from private instructors. It used data from its own platform, USA Pickleball, Places2Play, local pickleball associations, and more. It also referred to the Sports and Fitness Industry Association (SFIA), which named pickleball the fastest-growing sport in America, with a growth rate of 223.5 percent over three years.

Similarly, TeachMe.To ranked Austin as the fastest-growing city for pickleball, and citing this as the main reason for the overall title of "the nation's pickleball capital."

It name-checked the Austin Metro Pickleball Association (AMPA) — with approximately 3,000-3,500 members — and the Austin Pickleball League (APL), estimating that overall, "15,000-20,000 people play pickleball at least occasionally in the greater Austin area." About half of those players — about 8,000-10,000 people — play at least twice a month.

The report did not include gender data on Austin, specifically, but it did note that not only are two-thirds of pickleball players female; women's involvement in the sport is also growing 50 percent faster than men's.

New courts everywhere
This probably isn't a surprise to people who have noticed the number of courts opened around Austin in recent years. By 2024, TeachMe.To's data shows 32 dedicated courts in Austin, and thanks to with a utility rate of 92 percent it doesn't look like that'll be slowing down.

In the summer of 2023, the online booking platform Swimply noticed how many pickleball courts there were in Austin compared to such great demand, and added courts to its service. In fall 2023 and summer 2024, at least two important developments expanded that availability: Other Racquet Social Club opened as a friendly, country club-like neighborhood option, and national chain The Picklr announced it's bringing five locations to Austin and Round Rock.

Perhaps because Austin is such a food-obsessed city, there seems to be some growing opportunity for food and beverage hospitality around pickleball, too. Other Racquet recently started hosting the Bill's Dips food truck, a spinoff of the popular downtown restaurant Bill's Oyster; and a pair of bars with pickleball courts, Drifters Social Coffee & Cocktails and The Pickle Pub, also opened in South Austin this year, with strong online ratings already.

The trend has even reached into real estate (see this cute house with its own pickleball court) and inspired athletes to introduce similar sports to the local market, as in the case of the padel club Paddle39. TeachMe.To's report also mentioned tech companies adding pickleball to their campuses.

Aside from growth, the study also considered lesson activity (including information about teacher availability and diversity of clinic offerings), infrastructure, community vitality, the tournament scene.

Austin had the highest concentration of all the cities of players under 40 (65 percent), as well as the highest share of national lesson bookings. At 16.90 percent, that means about one in six of the pickleball lessons contracted through this platform were in Austin. Lesson demand, the report says, is growing 125 percent year-over-year.

Elsewhere in Texas
Dallas was No. 3 thanks in part to its "central location" according to the report.

"The city's 45 dedicated courts and 85 [percent] public accessibility rate have fostered one of the most active competitive scenes in the country, with 8,500 registered league players," it says. "The combination of strong tournament presence, extensive infrastructure, and a 112% growth in lesson bookings solidifies Dallas as a powerhouse in the national pickleball landscape."

Houston made No. 8 with an emphasis on integrating pickleball with other sports.

"The city's 22 dedicated courts have seen a 92% increase in lesson bookings, driven by innovative programming that includes the nation's first corporate league system," it says. "Houston's success in integrating pickleball into existing sports infrastructure while maintaining 72% year-round utilization demonstrates a sustainable model for rapid growth."

Overall predictions
After laying out data about the top cities in pickleball, the report made some predictions. As the Austin newcomer mentioned above believes, the report also thinks padel is the next big thing. It also guesses more cities will act like Houston by focusing on hybrid facilities.

It also expects to see an expanded professional circuit and mainstream coverage, more technology used on the court, a rise in the prevalence of young players, and more opportunities in corporate wellness and real estate. "Dedicated pickleball facilities will become as common as swimming pools in luxury developments," it says. Texans will be the judge of that one.

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