San Antonio sports personality faces blowback for saying the city is poor

San Antonio sports broadcaster Mike Jimenez has once again waded into controversy, this time arguing during his podcast that San Antonio's goal of landing another pro sports league is hindered by its relative poverty and lack of vision.

But is he wrong?

Jimenez's comments came during Wednesday's episode of the Alamo City Sportscast while he and co-host Joe Garcia discussed a recent ESPN article ranking the San Antonio-Austin region among the top contenders to land an MLB expansion team.

"It's going to be Austin, bro. There's not going to be, in any way, in my opinion, that San Antonio is going to be able to land an MLB team," Garcia told Jimenez. "The No. 1 reason behind that is the City Council can't get their heads out of their own ass and build a freaking field."

Jimenez disagreed, arguing that San Antonio's inability to land a major-league franchise isn't City Council but the city's relatively high poverty rate and its lack of large corporations. Pro sports teams rely on cities' corporate bases to sell lucrative luxury boxes.

"What we're asking is the question: Is San Antonio, or is Bexar County, poor?" Jimenez said. "We are. We are, and it's because the jobs aren't here."

Former Mayor Henry Cisneros — who led the charge on the Alamodome, River Center and SeaWorld — was the last visionary to lead the city, Jimenez said. The commentator added that if San Antonio is to succeed, residents will need to accept that working together with Austin as regional partners is the best path forward.

"We have the people; they have the money," Jimenez said of the cities' relationship.

Even though numbers show San Antonio is among the nation's most-impoverished big cities, proud residents lined up to blast Jimenez on social media.

"Man, Mike Jimenez calling San Antonio 'small-minded,' 'poor,' lacks 'visionaries,' 'uneducated,' 'backward thinking,' etc.… he's going to get hella cooked now," KENS5 sports broadcaster Jeff Garcia tweeted.

Man @MJAcquiredTaste calling San Antonio "small minded", "poor", lacks "visionaries", "uneducated," "backward thinking" etc .... he going to get hella cooked now 😫😫😫, #sanantonio

— JeffGSpursKENS5 (@JeffGSpursZone) February 21, 2024

Garcia called it. Others were quick to join the online roast.

"We lack billionaires, not vision," tweeted user @MellowVelo27. "There's a difference." Others accused Jimenez of "engagement hunting."

Even so, some X users jumped to Jimenez's defense.

"I don't know if the small-mindedness in my native SA will ever change," San Antonio Business Journal columnist W. Scott Bailey wrote. "But if this city doesn't start thinking big it's going to get left behind."

I don’t know if the small mindedness in my native SA will ever change. But if this city doesn’t start thinking big it’s going to get left behind.

— W. Scott Bailey (@scottbaileysabj) February 22, 2024

X user @SirRobertBuford was in agreement. Despite San Antonio being the seventh-largest city in the U.S. by population, "you'd think we were in Corpus Christi," he tweeted.

Whatever San Antonio sports fans' options on Jimenez's take, facts back up his claim that the city is considerably poorer than its northern neighbor. Nearly 20% of San Antonio residents live in poverty, and average incomes lag behind even the Texas average.

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