Precourt says Austin ‘great opportunity’
A day after announcing a pair of “strategic options” for Columbus Crew SC that place the team’s future in Columbus beyond 2018 in doubt, investor-operator Anthony Precourt was in Austin, Texas, touting the city’s potential as a market in Major League Soccer.
Precourt Sports Ventures, the Crew’s ownership group headed by Precourt, announced Tuesday that it would simultaneously explore two options for the future of the franchise, either a stadium in Downtown Columbus to replace 18-year-old Mapfre Stadium or relocating to Austin.
Precourt and Precourt Sports Ventures President
Dave Greeley met with several members of the Austin media Wednesday to kick off a process that Precourt said is “by no means a done deal.”
“For us, the key is going to be finding the right stadium location in the urban fabric of Austin, so that’s what we’re going to start to work on over the coming months,” Precourt told KXAN-TV in Austin.
Precourt described Austin to KXAN as “a wonderful marketplace that’s got great opportunity.”
“I see a vision of Major League Soccer being very, very successful here in Austin,” he said.
Exploring relocation is a complicated puzzle and one that would require a stadium deal coming together for the team to relocate after the 2018 season.
Austin Mayor Steve Adler called the potential of an MLS team “exciting news” in a statement Tuesday, but said he does not think there is support for public funding of a stadium. Precourt said Tuesday and again Wednesday that he does not intend to use taxpayer dollars to finance a stadium in either city.
In a statement from the Austin Sports Commission, Executive Director Lance Aldridge said the group was excited at the prospect of a team, but also expressed compassion for Crew fans.
“We have a passionate soccer following here in town that matches our vibrant, diverse community. The Austin Sports Commission is excited to welcome Mr. Precourt and his team to Austin and work closely to support their efforts in any way possible,” Aldridge said. “With that said, we empathize with the strong base of Crew fans in Columbus as we’ve also recently lost a professional soccer franchise to another market.”
A minor-league team called the Austin Aztex was sold to a group in Orlando, Florida, in 2010 and became the progenitor of Orlando City, an MLS franchise that began play in 2015.
A later team also called the Aztex, which was affiliated with the Crew in 2015, suspended operations that fall due to financial concerns. Then in August, the United Soccer League announced it would place a new franchise in Austin in 2019 in a soccerspecific venue at the Circuit of the Americas, a motorsports facility.
Comparing the prospect of an MLS franchise in Austin and the past failure of a minor-league team, Precourt called the two “apples and oranges.”
His more pressing issues are finding a location for a Crew stadium and financing for it. Precourt told the Austin American-Statesman that he will have conversations with Austin city leaders “today, tomorrow and going forward.”
A spokesperson for the Downtown Austin Alliance, a group of businesses and Downtown Austin property owners, declined to comment when asked about hypothetical stadium locations in the city’s downtown.
Precourt has offered little in the way of a timeline as to when he hopes to have a stadium deal in place in either city or when he hopes to have a decision regarding the Crew’s future.
On Tuesday, Precourt said he has been in contact with city leaders in Columbus with his concerns regarding the Crew’s attendance and corporate sponsorship outlook since early 2016.
The MLS to Austin rollout Wednesday also featured a few Austinites helping in advisory roles, including Josh Babetski, an Austin soccer blogger and president of Austin’s American Outlaws chapter, and Alejandro Ruelas, an Austin business owner. Neither returned messages seeking comment.
Addressing the possibility of Tuesday’s announcement burning bridges in Columbus, Precourt said he recognizes the club’s history and fan support and that the news came as a disappointment to them. He also spoke of “misrepresentation of facts out of the gate” that has made matters worse, reiterating that Precourt Sports Ventures will seek concurrent consideration of Columbus and Austin.
“We are sincerely looking at relocating to Austin, Texas,” Precourt told the AustinAmerican Statesman. “If a stadium site were to come together, we’re excited to consider moving here.”