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re: Columbus Crew possibly moving to Austin, TX if a stadium deal can't be reached
Posted on 10/17/17 at 1:40 am to WarSlamEagle
Posted on 10/17/17 at 1:40 am to WarSlamEagle
And they already have a stadium that was built for expansion if they got into MLS
This whole thing stinks and the last thing the league needs with all the bad PR after not qualifying for the WC.
This whole thing stinks and the last thing the league needs with all the bad PR after not qualifying for the WC.
This post was edited on 10/17/17 at 1:40 am
Posted on 10/17/17 at 1:40 am to WarSlamEagle
They're apparently averaging ~7000/match. Austin's USL club was lucky to get 3000.
The San Antonio soccer people I've met are melting about this. They have no idea why this is happening to them and don't understand why, if Columbus is going to move, they don't move to a city that actually wants a team.
The San Antonio soccer people I've met are melting about this. They have no idea why this is happening to them and don't understand why, if Columbus is going to move, they don't move to a city that actually wants a team.
Posted on 10/17/17 at 1:44 am to hendersonshands
Where is a stadium going in downtown Austin?
Posted on 10/17/17 at 1:45 am to jackwoods4
Crew stadium is like 5 minuets tops from Ohio State
So it ant exactly away from civilization
So it ant exactly away from civilization
Posted on 10/17/17 at 1:46 am to WarSlamEagle
If Wikipedia can be trusted, here are the average attendances for the two teams, along with their USL/PDL performance.
Austin Aztex
2012: 1,269 fans (PDL Conference Finals)
2013: 1,438 fans (PDL Champions)
2014: 1,828 fans (PDL Conference Finals)
2015: 3,226 fans (USL- No Playoffs)
So the team nearly doubled its attendance after jumping into to Division 3 (at the time). The team was very good in the PDL, but didn't attract many fans. The field was damaged by a flood in 2015, and the team decided to dissolve. A new USL team is set to launch in Austin in 2019.
San Antonio Scorpions/SAFC
2012-15 Team averaged about 7,000 fans as an NASL team with a high of about 9,000 fans in 2012. Team dissolves when SAFC comes to town in the USL.
2016: 6, 170 fans (No Playoffs)
2017: 7,153 fans (3rd place overall)
I think FC Cincinnati and Atlanta United has to completely change the way we look at expansion cities. Those have been home runs from the get-go. Clearly, American soccer fans show up for the local team if the product is good and the ownership actually invests in building the team. Austin has very similar population size to Portland, Oregon, and a large Hispanic and college-aged population. I think a well-marketed and run USL team could explode in Austin. Still, I'm against the idea of the Crew just packing up their shite and moving there.
Chivas USA dissolving is actually good for MLS in the long-run, since that was a complete shitshow by the end. It's basically being replaced by a much more competent ownership group and team in LAFC. However, the league needs to keep the Crew in Columbus at all costs. Why not just completely demolish and rebuild the stadium to meet modern standards? It's all about leverage for Precourt.
Austin Aztex
2012: 1,269 fans (PDL Conference Finals)
2013: 1,438 fans (PDL Champions)
2014: 1,828 fans (PDL Conference Finals)
2015: 3,226 fans (USL- No Playoffs)
So the team nearly doubled its attendance after jumping into to Division 3 (at the time). The team was very good in the PDL, but didn't attract many fans. The field was damaged by a flood in 2015, and the team decided to dissolve. A new USL team is set to launch in Austin in 2019.
San Antonio Scorpions/SAFC
2012-15 Team averaged about 7,000 fans as an NASL team with a high of about 9,000 fans in 2012. Team dissolves when SAFC comes to town in the USL.
2016: 6, 170 fans (No Playoffs)
2017: 7,153 fans (3rd place overall)
I think FC Cincinnati and Atlanta United has to completely change the way we look at expansion cities. Those have been home runs from the get-go. Clearly, American soccer fans show up for the local team if the product is good and the ownership actually invests in building the team. Austin has very similar population size to Portland, Oregon, and a large Hispanic and college-aged population. I think a well-marketed and run USL team could explode in Austin. Still, I'm against the idea of the Crew just packing up their shite and moving there.
Chivas USA dissolving is actually good for MLS in the long-run, since that was a complete shitshow by the end. It's basically being replaced by a much more competent ownership group and team in LAFC. However, the league needs to keep the Crew in Columbus at all costs. Why not just completely demolish and rebuild the stadium to meet modern standards? It's all about leverage for Precourt.
This post was edited on 10/17/17 at 1:53 am
Posted on 10/17/17 at 2:10 am to Michael Stein
It just sucks bc the way MLS is set up Columbus will never have a top flight team again and it’s one of the founding members.
Posted on 10/17/17 at 2:43 am to StraightCashHomey21
quote:
Crew stadium is like 5 minuets tops from Ohio State
So it ant exactly away from civilization
It's in the middle of nowhere in terms of pregame bars. There's two somewhat close and they're dives.
No restaurants or large establishments around.
Anyway, I'm sure the City Columbus would like to keep the Crew and a downtown stadium has been talked about for a while but I don't know if the city/taxpayers will pay for it. Nationwide Arena already cost local tax payers.
Posted on 10/17/17 at 2:56 am to KosmoCramer
quote:
@RobStoneONFOX The #CrewSC ownership continuing a long American Pro Sports tradition of threatening to move unless they get what they want (need?).
Posted on 10/17/17 at 4:42 am to hendersonshands
Being from Austin, I have one question about this ...
Where in the literal frick are they gonna play?
Where in the literal frick are they gonna play?
This post was edited on 10/17/17 at 4:43 am
Posted on 10/17/17 at 4:46 am to Manzielathon
I wonder how DS feels
Dudes been talking up MLS to Austin, but the way it is happening is more ammunition for his anti MLS crusade.
Dudes been talking up MLS to Austin, but the way it is happening is more ammunition for his anti MLS crusade.
Posted on 10/17/17 at 5:05 am to Manzielathon
Posted on 10/17/17 at 5:23 am to YNWA
If the press conference goes the way of yea we are moving, then i hope the crew play their playoff matches in front of an empty stadium.
Yea it sucks for the players but a statement needs to be made as the fans are the real ones getting fricked.
This is awful for the leagues imagine and can be a huge turn off for fringe fans. Especially ones who don’t want MLS to be just like every American sports league but it looks like we are heading that way with the closed franchise system.
Yea it sucks for the players but a statement needs to be made as the fans are the real ones getting fricked.
This is awful for the leagues imagine and can be a huge turn off for fringe fans. Especially ones who don’t want MLS to be just like every American sports league but it looks like we are heading that way with the closed franchise system.
Posted on 10/17/17 at 6:10 am to StraightCashHomey21
I won't be surprised at all if this situation ends up playing out like San Jose did in 2005. A lot of people aren't aware of this, since MLS wasn't widely followed by the American soccer community at the time. (Admittedly, I didn't even care about the league myself until the 2013 season, but it's won me over and I watch as much of it as time permits.)
Basically, AEG, the owner San Jose Earthquakes, one of the ten 10 original teams in MLS, wanted a new soccer-specific stadium for the Earthquakes. They didn't get one, so after the 2005 season they moved the team to Houston. This is the expansion team we know as the Houston Dynamo today.
MLS wasn't happy about it, but legally it was within AEG's rights to do so. Don Garber declared the San Jose team to be in hiatus while negotiations with local interested ownership groups took place to bring back the team. The owners of the Oakland A's eventually secured a deal with MLS to bring back the Quakes. The team resumed play in 2008, and was allowed to keep all the records and accolades won before the move to Houston, as if nothing had happened. The Quakes even have a beautiful soccer-specific stadium now after years of playing in crappy stadiums.
I don't want it to go down like this, but this is exactly what I see happening again if Precourt is really determined to move the team. MLS would almost certainly declare the Columbus Crew to be in hiatus until a new ownership group took over (and it sounds like multiple groups are interested, it's just that Precourt doesn't want to sell) and the team would be allowed to re-enter the league immediately once ready, like San Jose did in 2008. The Austin team would technically be an expansion team, like the Dynamo were.
However, I see this move causing way, way more backlash than the AEG move back in 2005. With so many teams and cities looking to potentially join the league, they will not appreciate Austin cutting the line with this forced move. If a move really is happening, and that seems to be the case, Don Garber needs to clarify the league's long-term expansion policies immediately. I believe he is supposed to announce the next two expansion teams anyway in the next week or so, so he might as well address this issue now. I expected Cincinnati and Sacramento to be the two teams chosen, but now I'm not so sure it won't be Austin and Nashville, or something like that.
Basically, AEG, the owner San Jose Earthquakes, one of the ten 10 original teams in MLS, wanted a new soccer-specific stadium for the Earthquakes. They didn't get one, so after the 2005 season they moved the team to Houston. This is the expansion team we know as the Houston Dynamo today.
MLS wasn't happy about it, but legally it was within AEG's rights to do so. Don Garber declared the San Jose team to be in hiatus while negotiations with local interested ownership groups took place to bring back the team. The owners of the Oakland A's eventually secured a deal with MLS to bring back the Quakes. The team resumed play in 2008, and was allowed to keep all the records and accolades won before the move to Houston, as if nothing had happened. The Quakes even have a beautiful soccer-specific stadium now after years of playing in crappy stadiums.
I don't want it to go down like this, but this is exactly what I see happening again if Precourt is really determined to move the team. MLS would almost certainly declare the Columbus Crew to be in hiatus until a new ownership group took over (and it sounds like multiple groups are interested, it's just that Precourt doesn't want to sell) and the team would be allowed to re-enter the league immediately once ready, like San Jose did in 2008. The Austin team would technically be an expansion team, like the Dynamo were.
However, I see this move causing way, way more backlash than the AEG move back in 2005. With so many teams and cities looking to potentially join the league, they will not appreciate Austin cutting the line with this forced move. If a move really is happening, and that seems to be the case, Don Garber needs to clarify the league's long-term expansion policies immediately. I believe he is supposed to announce the next two expansion teams anyway in the next week or so, so he might as well address this issue now. I expected Cincinnati and Sacramento to be the two teams chosen, but now I'm not so sure it won't be Austin and Nashville, or something like that.
This post was edited on 10/17/17 at 6:15 am
Posted on 10/17/17 at 6:40 am to Michael Stein
I assume they have a youth academy in Columbus? So what happens with all that?
Posted on 10/17/17 at 6:46 am to hendersonshands
ATX deserves a big boy pro team, and the soccer culture there is very strong
Posted on 10/17/17 at 6:48 am to Manzielathon
quote:
Where in the literal frick are they gonna play?
You could put a stadium down east 6th past Zilker Brewery, bearish Josephine's?
Posted on 10/17/17 at 6:49 am to StraightCashHomey21
quote:
Dudes been talking up MLS to Austin, but the way it is happening is more ammunition for his anti MLS crusade.
I mean my problem is more with USSF. MLS is just doing what closed leagues do.
Posted on 10/17/17 at 6:49 am to etm512
Yes. The academy system didn't exist yet in MLS yet when the Quakes franchise went on hiatus. There is no precedent in MLS for this sort of thing.
I assume the league would step in to manage the academy system somehow, or force Precourt to continue maintaining them at his expense until the new ownership group takes over. Precourt shouldn't be able to walk away and deprive prospective players of the academy system they've earned their way into. And I don't think there's any way MLS accepts Columbus not having a team in the long-term. Even if Precourt moves his franchise, the league will almost certainly do everything possible to resurrect the Crew immediately, like what happened with San Jose.
It seems odd Precourt would go through all the trouble of rebranding the team with a nice new logo, etc. back in 2015 if he was always planning to move the team anyways, but that seems to be the case. I hope this works out for the fans in Columbus.
I assume the league would step in to manage the academy system somehow, or force Precourt to continue maintaining them at his expense until the new ownership group takes over. Precourt shouldn't be able to walk away and deprive prospective players of the academy system they've earned their way into. And I don't think there's any way MLS accepts Columbus not having a team in the long-term. Even if Precourt moves his franchise, the league will almost certainly do everything possible to resurrect the Crew immediately, like what happened with San Jose.
It seems odd Precourt would go through all the trouble of rebranding the team with a nice new logo, etc. back in 2015 if he was always planning to move the team anyways, but that seems to be the case. I hope this works out for the fans in Columbus.
This post was edited on 10/17/17 at 7:01 am
Posted on 10/17/17 at 6:53 am to Michael Stein
I'm not thrilled about how it looks like this is gonna go down for Columbus, but I'm actually optimistic about an MLS team potentially thriving in Austin, if it's done well, like Orlando and Atlanta have been.
Let's be honest about how the Crew's current facilities are some of the worst in MLS, and the location isn't great. And with attendance being pretty low despite a good team, Precourt might be wise in the long-run to cut his losses in Columbus and move his team to Austin. At the end of the day, there's not really much anyone can do if he's determined to move the team.
Let's be honest about how the Crew's current facilities are some of the worst in MLS, and the location isn't great. And with attendance being pretty low despite a good team, Precourt might be wise in the long-run to cut his losses in Columbus and move his team to Austin. At the end of the day, there's not really much anyone can do if he's determined to move the team.
Posted on 10/17/17 at 7:56 am to Michael Stein
quote:
negotiations with local interested ownership groups took place to bring back the team. The owners of the Oakland A's eventually secured a deal with MLS to bring back the Quakes.
Was the cost $100m then though? Because local ownership group in Columbus will have to be willing to pay that to have a chance for this to happen.
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