re: Columbus Crew possibly moving to Austin, TX if a stadium deal can't be reached

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.