Columbus Crew: Sanity creeps into Austin negotiations
After all that, Columbus Crew SC will be staying in Ohio, while Austin, Texas will have to wait until 2021. Perhaps sanity has finally crept in the back door and taken its seat at the head of the table.
So Ohio keeps Columbus Crew SC. Austin gets an official MLS nod for a team — but for now, the Texas capital city only has Anthony Precourt on the roster. A pending lawsuit in the mix stands to get dismissed. And sanity is returning to both Columbus and Austin.
Precourt Sports Ventures maintains its mission to launch an MLS franchise in Austin. But Ohio’s state law throwing a poison pill into pro sports teams moving away worked. Columbus Crew SC stays put and won’t become Austin FC.
MLS released a statement on the moves on October 12. Ownership of the NFL Cleveland Browns commited to buying out Precourt and keeping the team in Columbus.
The Columbus Partnership and other Crew interests chimed in their approval. Precourt and the MLS-to-Austin supporters remained silent in this communication but locals had statements in the Austin American-Statesman newspaper.
There in Texas, supporters called the result a win-win situation. They emphasized the MLS statement calling for a clear path to MLS in Austin and they cheered an expected target for MLS play there no later than 2021, when the privately financed stadium would open in North Austin.
A statement from the City of Austin said the latest development doesn’t change the negotiations between the City Council and Precourt Sports Ventures. The plan remains to open the stadium and have Precourt put a team in it.
Mechanics of an Ohio state law scrapped the original plans to relocate Columbus Crew SC to Austin. The Ohio Attorney General and City of Columbus sued both MLS and Precourt Sports Ventures to invoke that law. The state passed the law in 1996 after NFL owner Art Modell moved the Browns to Baltimore. There, the team became the expansion Ravens.
Entire article:
https://mlsmultiplex.com/2018/10/14/columbus-crew-sanity-creeps-austin-negotiations/
Statements on the Columbus Crew
Major League Soccer Statement:
“Major League Soccer and the Columbus Partnership have been working together for several months on a plan to keep the Crew in Columbus and we have made significant progress.
Recently, the Haslam Family – along with the Columbus-based Edwards Family, have joined the effort to keep the Crew in Columbus.
MLS, the Columbus Partnership and the investor group all agree that for the Club to be successful, it requires strong local owners, long-term corporate support, a strong season ticket base and long-term plans for a stadium, practice facilities and associated sites.
MLS is committed to keeping the Crew in Columbus should we continue to make progress on these critical components and agree to key terms with the investor group.
MLS recognizes the cooperation of Precourt Sports Ventures has demonstrated throughout the process to date.
MLS also remains very committed to PSV’s plan to launch an MLS Club in Austin and is excited for Austin to become a great addition to MLS. We will continue to work with PSV and the City of Austin on the timing around the launch of that Club.”
Joint Statement from the Columbus Partnership, Pete Edwards, Jr. and Dee and Jimmy Haslam on forming alliance to keep Crew in Columbus:
“We are excited to jointly announce that the Columbus Partnership along with a local investor group led by Pete Edwards, Jr. and Dee and Jimmy Haslam have formed an alliance to continue the collaboration with Major League Soccer to keep the Crew in Columbus.
We are optimistic about our recent conversations with MLS regarding the potential sale of the operating rights of the Columbus Crew.
While there are many details to be worked out, our alliance is working diligently and collaboratively with the League to keep the Crew in its community. We are very excited about the quiet but deliberate progress that has been made to date and will keep the community updated as this process moves forward.”
Entire article:
https://www.13abc.com/content/sports/Statements-on-the-Columbus-Crew-497533741.html