The owner of the Columbus Crew, Anthony Precourt and Precourt Sports Ventures, made a statement on Tuesday, Oct. 17 announcing that if a new stadium is not built in downtown Columbus, the club will move to Austin, Texas pending the approval of a stadium plan.
The statement by the Crew is on the Major League Soccer website.
“Despite our investments and efforts, the current course is not sustainable,” Anthony Precourt said. “This Club has ambition to be a standard bearer in MLS, therefore we have no choice but to expand and explore all of our options. This includes a possible move to Austin … Soccer is the world’s game, and with Austin’s growing presence as an international city, combined with its strong multicultural foundation, MLS in Austin could be an ideal fit.”
Precourt’s quote from the statement sounds like he has been planning this move for years, ever since he bought the team. In fact, it has been rumored that this is exactly what Precourt did when he bought the team.
An anonymous source that spoke to Deadspin said, “A deal to host home games at the University of Texas is ‘all but done’ for 2019…Precourt paid $68 million — above market value — for the team in 2013 because he long entertained plans to move it … The purchase agreement contained a promise to keep the team in Columbus for at least 10 years; it also included an escape clause in the case Precourt wanted to move it to Austin.”
So what does this all mean? It means that unless the people in Columbus start paying for a new stadium, in the downtown area as well, then they will move to Austin.
MLS is just over 20 years old, and soccer is still growing in the country, but MLS needs Columbus. This is because Columbus is seen as a culture in U.S. soccer. Any time the U.S. Men’s National Team is in a dire situation, and needs to rally around a city, they go to Columbus. Columbus has been home to some of the most important victories in U.S. Men’s National Team qualifying and has hosted every U.S. vs. Mexico qualifier since 2001. Columbus is seen as the headquarters of U.S. soccer, and for good reason. The Crew’s move to Austin would take away this headquarters, and some people may say this isn’t important, but I would say that it is.
One reason that Precourt believes that the Crew needs to move is because he believes that Columbus only cares about the Buckeyes. He may be right that Ohio State is the most important sports team in Columbus, but that doesn’t mean people don’t care about the Crew. Precourt’s way of thinking would also do the same for Austin. The University of Texas is in Austin and will be the same thing as Columbus.
I know sports are businesses, and if attendance isn’t where the team wants, then it’s within their right to make changes. However, I’m of the mind that the fans are the most important part, and Ohio fans are some of the most devoted in the country.
This move would be bad for Columbus, MLS and U.S. soccer in general. As a soccer fan in the U.S., other than Atlanta and the rising Cincinnati, I have always seen Columbus as the home of soccer and that home is in trouble.