USL’s Austin Bold moving forward regardless of MLS
Expansion team expects to meet all its deadlines.
While Major League Soccer appears on the verge of arriving in Austin next year, the Austin Bold FC promised Thursday that it’s full speed ahead for their expansion United Soccer League franchise.
“Nothing changes for us. They cleared a major hurdle, but it’s not a done deal,” said Bold general manager Roberto Silva of the Division 2 club that will play in a newly built, 5,000-seat stadium at Circuit of the Americas.
“There are other things they need to figure out before making an announcement. Either way, we’re focused on our thing,” he said. “Everything is on pace from our end, and we expect to meet all our deadlines.”
Silva said the team will announce more player signings soon and said that ticket sales are going well, though no number was disclosed.
“Our message to Austin is: Don’t forget we have professional soccer,” he said. “We know where we will be playing in 2019 and we think we’ll have a good team.”
Longhorns reaction: Does Austin’s soccer spotlight have enough room for two teams? The Texas Longhorns certainly think so.
On Thursday, members of UT’s soccer team expressed excitement about Austin stepping closer to landing an MLS franchise. A day earlier, the Austin City Council approved a deal in which Precourt Sports Ventures will privately finance a $200 million stadium in North Austin and bring a team to town.
If that move happens, Austin would gain its first major-league franchise in any sport.
“From the club environment to high school to collegiate sports, I think Austin is a great soccer environment,” said senior midfielder Katie Glenn, who graduated from nearby Rouse High.
Texas coach Angela Kelly’s college teammate at North Carolina, Rosalind Berhalter, is married to the coach of Columbus Crew SC. In addition to a friend, Kelly could also gain a few fans if the Crew move to Austin.
Having soccer in the headlines would conceivably generate more interest in the sport and draw more fans to Myers Stadium this season. Kelly also pointed out that attendance numbers could receive a boost from this summer’s World Cup, which was a big draw on local TV sets.
“It may bring more excitement to the city about soccer,” junior forward Cyera Hintzen said. “I think it’s just awesome to have a MLS team. Being a female soccer player, just having that here, I think that’s awesome.”
Texas’ average attendance of 998 fans ranked 25th in the NCAA last year. The Longhorns open Friday at Rice. They went 14-4-3 in 2018 and reached the third round of the NCAA tournament and are bringing back 96.6 percent of their scoring.