Monday Musings #30 Viva Alamodome!

Last week, I promised a more in-depth take on the Alamodome and its importance to San Antonio’s urban profile, big-city offerings and its visitor economy. I did so after hearing Mayor Gina Jones repeat the often-misleading claim that Mayor Henry Cisneros and others promised voters an NFL franchise if they approved a half-cent sales tax to fund its construction in a 1989 vote.

It’s not true, and it detracts from the Alamodome’s significant impact on San Antonio over the last 32 years. By the way, we’ve had a small taste of the NFL here, thanks to the Alamodome. The New Orleans Saints did play and practice here, post-Hurricane Katrina, in the 2005-6 season, and the Dallas Cowboys and the Houston Oilers staged pre-season practice sessions here. I even remember a Cowboys-Oilers pre-season game played here that I believe was branded the Governor’s Cup.

In 2013, two years after my wife Monika Maeckle and I launched the Rivard Report, we invited civic and business leaders involved in the Alamodome election, its opening, and its key moments to write commentaries as the city celebrated the ‘Dome’s 20th anniversary. Cisneros, former Mayor Nelson Wolff, former Spurs owner Red McCombs, former city councilman Robert Marbut Jr., San Antonio Sports Foundation CEO Susan Blackwood, and yours truly all penned columns. Former councilwoman Helen Dutmer, whose home stood only blocks away from the Alamodome, contributed a commentary repeating her long-held opposition to the project. 

City boosters back then certainly hoped to compete for any NFL expansion franchise or a team relocation, but promises were never made, and thus, never broken. It’s important to take a factual look back at the Alamodome and the $3 billion impact it has had on the city.

Hopefully, it will help county voters who return to the polls in November to approve the allocation of visitor tax revenues to the construction of a new Spurs arena at Hemisfair and make major investments in the Frost Bank Center for expanded, year-round events by the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo.

Mayor Jones, meanwhile, unsuccessfully fought to stop a City Council majority from approving a non-binding term sheet with the Spurs in August. That standoff at City Hall is likely to continue over the city’s planned $489 million contribution to the arena project.

Support and opposition to the proposed Alamodome was fierce back in 1989, yet the measure passed with 53% of the vote. The half-cent sales tax to fund the $186 million construction was set to last five years, but the cost was paid off in full in 18 months. The Alamodome opened in the summer of 1993, debt-free.

Alamodome Trivial Pursuit

What rock star gave the first big concert in the Alamodome?

That was Sir Paul McCartney, who brought his “New World Tour” to the Alamodome on May 29, 1993, performing before 46,000-48,000 fans, depending on which source is cited.

What was the Alamodome’s first major sports event?

The 1993 U.S. Olympic Festival, an event San Antonio had previously lost to Los Angeles in 1991 due to our lack of a major sports stadium. See Marbut's commentary for that intriguing story. The Festival opened on July 23 with 62,702 filling the Alamodome. The festival continued for 10 days at venues all over the metro area as 3,500 athletes sought to qualify for a place on the U.S. team at the next Olympic Summer Games. 

Who holds the record for the biggest concert at the Alamodome?

San Antonio’s own country singing legend George Strait holds that record after 73,086 attended his June 1, 2013, stop on his “Cowboy Rides Away” tour.

When was the first Spurs game in the Alamodome?

That was Nov. 5, 1993, not long after McCombs sold the team to a group of local investors headed by businessman Bob Coleman. That was after playing for 20 years at HemisFair Arena, which was slated for demolition. The Spurs beat the Golden State Warriors, 91-85, before 36,523 fans. The Spurs would remain the Alamodome’s principal tenant until 2003, when they moved to the SBC Center on the city’s East Side.

Has the Alamodome ever hosted an NBA All-Star Game?

Yes, the 46th edition of the game was played here on Feb. 14, 2013, attracting 36,000 fans. It was Michael Jordan’s first return game, post-retirement, and he was awarded the MVP trophy. David Robinson and Sean Elliott were on the West’s team. The East team won, 129-118. Brent Barry won the dunk contest.

On Jan. 13, 2023, the Spurs returned to the Alamodome and set a new all-time NBA single-game attendance record of 68,323 people, once again against the Golden State Warriors. This time the Warriors won, 144-113.

When was the first Valero Alamo Bowl?

California defeated Iowa, 37-3, before 45,716 fans on Dec. 31, 1993. The annual holiday season bowl game has now been played here for 32 consecutive years and counting. The annual impact of the bowl game is put at $56 million, with an average of 44,000 visitors spending three days and nights on the River Walk and elsewhere in the city.

The Alamodome is now home field for the UTSA Roadrunners football team, which will play its first home game this season on Sept. 6 vs. Texas State University. The team’s downtown presence equates to six Saturdays when tens of thousands of fans stream downtown for a day of tailgating, football, and post-game River Walk entertainment.

And then there are the NCAA basketball tournaments that would have never been played in San Antonio without the Alamodome. San Antonio has now hosted five Men’s Final Four tournaments and as many Sweet 16/Elite 8 rounds. The 2025 Final Four brought 100,000 unique visitors to the city, with direct spending of $100 million and an overall economic impact of $440 million.

San Antonio has hosted three Women’s Final Four tournaments. The 2021 tournament, held during the COVID-19 pandemic, still generated $27.5 million in economic activity, attracting 15,000 unique visitors and 35,000 hotel room bookings.

More than 220 major concerts. I don’t want to date myself, but I did see the Rolling Stones there in 1994 and Selena in 1995.

And then there are countless high school and college graduations, the annual statewide high school marching band competition, not to mention the convention spillover, trade shows, marathon finishes, tractor pulls, and other entertainment. 

The Alamodome changed San Antonio for the better. It put us in league with other major U.S. cities for highly coveted sports events, and it enabled the city to host hundreds of large-scale entertainment events that otherwise would have never happened here. 

Not much focus is being placed on a ground-up rebuild of the Alamodome, but that will change in the coming years. If the city’s past investment is any guide, the future investment is a sure thing.