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

Nothing is a done deal yet, but this certainly a setback for Columbus and a victory for the Austin faction. Ultimately Austin wants a pro team, even if it’s MLS, and I think MLS sees Austin as a market it can have all to itself.

The only thing I can see stopping the move at this point is if the Ohio courts continue tying this up in court with the Modell Law. I really don’t think MLS (and the owners) wants its financials and expansion practices to be made public record by discovery. If the Ohio lawsuit is successful, MLS may want to play ball with the local group that has stepped up in Columbus to try and buy the team, rather than deal with years of court cases and bad press.

I see one of these four outcomes happening:

1) Austin can’t make a deal with Precourt and chooses another developer that offers the city a better deal. Relocation abandoned, Crew stay in Columbus, and probably get new ownership.
2) Deal is made with Austin. Precourt moves the team, Columbus left with nothing after Modell lawsuit fails and local group gives up. Worst case scenario.
3) Modell lawsuit is successful enough to where MLS wants to keep the Crew in Columbus. Team is sold to local ownership group, but Precourt gets an expansion team in Austin. I would hate that Precourt jumped the expansion line, but at least this would keep the Crew in Columbus, and give them real owners instead of this dope.
4) History repeats itself. The team moves to Austin with a new name/history. The Crew go on haitus until a local ownership group buys the team and gets a deal for a new stadium. This is basically what happened with San Jose and Houston in 2005.

There’s also a possibility that Sacramento’s expansion bid comes into play here. Word has it that Sacramento is very close to landing a few big members in their ownership group, which is their last hurdle before getting an expansion team. If this situation gets too difficult for Precourt, I can see him giving up and joining Sacramento’s group instead. Taylor Twellman has speculated this, as well.

The next two months will probably determine the Crew’s future. I think Austin could be a good MLS city, but this is not how they should be getting a team. If the Crew are taken from Columbus and moved to Austin, that team would be hated by 99% of MLS fans and seen like a bastard child, which would be unfair to the fans and players. We now know that Precourt intended to move the team the day he bought it, and he is intentionally sandbagging it to make the move more likely. It’s sad, because Columbus is an MLS original, and they could be successful with local owners who cared instead of this carpetbagger. The Crew and their fans deserve better.

great insight. i havent been following the saga. thank you for taking the time to type all of this

You're forgetting that Precourt's pitch for the stadium is approaching Qatar territory (all the fans will reach the stadium by shuttle bus, etc.).


Oh, and Precourt and Garber have gone behind everyone's backs on this for years now, with Austin not even a potential MLS city until Precourt got the balls to try this out in the open.

This Columbus shite smells as bad as the Rams moving stuff.

Roger G was sending the St.Louis board of aldermen letters to vote down any money for a new stadium, while on tv telling the fans that they want team to stay.

Kroenke is being sued, and fans who were season ticket holders are going to clean his clock, His right hand man has been caught so many times on tape, lying. I have a feeling Kroenke will settle.

Hopefully Cbus can fight and win. St.Louis fans had no chance to fight, when the league is doing everything they can to push the move.