MLS commissioner says league focused on keeping Crew SC in Columbus

 

As uncertainty mounts regarding a potential Columbus Crew SC move to Austin, Texas, the commissioner of Major League Soccer says the goal is to keep the team in its hometown.

 

Sports Illustrated's Grant Wahl has been busy this week with MLS Commissioner Don Garber. Just two days after he said Crew SC ownership has been working with the Columbus mayor "to be more successful in Columbus," he now tells the publication that the league is "as focused on keeping the team there (in Columbus) as Anthony is working to try to see if there are any other alternatives.”

 

Garber's public comments come on the heels of a resolution that would take parkland off the table for a stadium site in Austin. That's expected to be debated in February.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2018/01/25/mls-commissioner-says-league-focused-on-keeping.html

More news today - looks like Precourt might be trying to wash his hands of the whole thing.

 

https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2018/01/26/crew-sc-owner-talking-with-potential-investors-in.html?ana=twt

Those last bits of news coming from the Garber and Precourt camps are encouraging for the #SaveTheCrew movement.  But we're not letting our guard down or stopping the #SaveTheCrew pressure on PSV or MLS.  Garber and Precourt have been too duplicitous and deceitful to just take their statements at face value.

 

The only news that will cease the #SaveTheCrew movement is news that Precourt has sold the Columbus Crew to local owners.

^^ any links to any Austin groups that are opposed to any part of the relocation, whether it be about the parkland or anything? So people could encourage and foment discontent in Austin?

 

I hope Precourt gets tired of the hassle and just sells.

I hope Precourt gets tired of the hassle and just sells.

 

Seems like the path to victory for #SaveTheCrew

It's surprising some of the Columbus business community is still willing to partner with him going forward. I wonder just what it will/would take for him to just say F it, I'm done, and sell the team completely.

 

As of late I've been really interested in Dodge Park as a stadium site. The city offered it as a location for a stadium and that area is developing pretty quickly. That River and Rich project would be next door. And it would still have highway visibility for good advertising and naming rights. Could the amenities at Dodge Park be moved somewhere nearby so that the neighborhood doesn't have to lose them? Are there plans for the old Cooper Stadium property. That could make a good recreation park possibly?

 

Just tossing ideas around.

 

SAVE THE CREW.

Yeah, Dodge Park is an excellent choice, coinciding with Franklinton's revival.

#SaveTheCrew movement still moving forward.  On Saturday, they held a pancake fundraiser at Das KaffeeHaus in the Brewery District.  It went well.  Very well:

 

 

 

Then #SaveTheCrew started taking orders for their official #SaveTheCrew jersey that was announced at the community meeting earlier this month:  https://shop.savethecrew.com/product/the-community-kit/

 

 

And got swamped with so many orders that it temporarily crashed the website!!!

 

 

All for a jersey whose design has yet to be revealed and won't be delivered until March!!!  How's that for #BusinessMetrics soccerdon?

Also a twitter update from NBC4 reporter Dan Pearlman about this:

 

More news today - looks like Precourt might be trying to wash his hands of the whole thing.

 

https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2018/01/26/crew-sc-owner-talking-with-potential-investors-in.html?ana=twt

 

 

Update: The Crew SC Could End Up Staying in Columbus After All

 

 

One of the biggest news stories to break in 2017 was the heartbreaking announcement that Columbus Crew SC owner Anthony Precourt was exploring options to relocate the team, most likely to Austin. After conversations between city leaders and MLS representatives were essentially deemed a nonstarter, it seemed that the writing was on the wall, despite the massive local surge behind the #SaveTheCrew movement.

 

But it’s starting to look like the team could stick around after all.

 

More below:

http://www.columbusunderground.com/update-the-crew-sc-could-end-up-staying-in-columbus-after-all-we1

Would a stadium in Dodge Park actually have enough parking for full-capacity crowds (assuming they built a stadium at least as big as MapFRE)?

Aren't they already building a garage for that one infill yuppie box nearby?

From https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2018-02-02/ann-kitchen-1-precourt-sports-ventures-nil/

 

From https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2018-02-02/ann-kitchen-1-precourt-sports-ventures-nil/

 

 

Unfortunately there is no source given for the report that Precourt is looking at that land. I wouldn't be surprised if that is outdated information from a few months ago when the Schottensteins made it public that offered their plot of land to Precourt but he turned it down.

 

If this report is accurate though, this gives Columbus two different stadium sites that are far better than anything available in Austin, as far as we know.

Interesting that the Columbus Partnership guy backhands Precourt the way he did. You think in the best interests of keeping the team he would keep his tone a little less honest and a little more diplomatic.

 

Columbus Partnership CEO Alex Fis­cher told the Columbus Dispatch that Precourt had reopened conversations with investors in Ohio about keeping the Crew in Columbus, a bold move after he effectively alienated that entire city's fan base. "It kind of looks like [PSV] were going for broke and being pretty tone deaf leading up to [Friday]," Fischer told the paper. "Now to abruptly change kind of mirrors the experience that we've had with them in Colum­bus."

Interesting that the Columbus Partnership guy backhands Precourt the way he did. You think in the best interests of keeping the team he would keep his tone a little less honest and a little more diplomatic.

 

Columbus Partnership CEO Alex Fis­cher told the Columbus Dispatch that Precourt had reopened conversations with investors in Ohio about keeping the Crew in Columbus, a bold move after he effectively alienated that entire city's fan base. "It kind of looks like [PSV] were going for broke and being pretty tone deaf leading up to [Friday]," Fischer told the paper. "Now to abruptly change kind of mirrors the experience that we've had with them in Colum­bus."

 

Fischer has been pretty diplomatic/cordial recently when speaking about Garber though. I think that's the important point. If we get Garber and the rest of the league on our side, Precourt doesn't really matter.

Would a stadium in Dodge Park actually have enough parking for full-capacity crowds (assuming they built a stadium at least as big as MapFRE)?

 

I dont suspect much, if any, surface parking lot would be part of a stadium plan here, or in the Arena District. The rapid development of Franklinton, especially with a lot of mixed use, walkable developments will create an environment where fans won't need on site parking but will walk from any number of locations including the inevitable parking garages that will spring up with future development in the neighborhood. A Crew Stadium, if announced this year, wouldn't even open for a few years so Franklinton would have a headstart on being able to capacitate 20 thousand fans.

I've been hearing on the news that some important memo was going to be released today.  This looks important.

 

From the Dispatch Crew reporter's twitter feed: 

 

Happening today in Austin.

 

From the Dispatch Crew reporter's twitter feed yesterday: 

 

Austin had their "Protect Guerrero Park Rally" yesterday.  Which was noted by the #SaveTheCrew movement:

 

^ Which is also causing the #mls2atx folks to show they are worried.  How worried?  They are now trying to claim that its not really Austin residents showing up oppose PSV and save their parkland.  Which led to this priceless twitter exchange:

 

Another update from Austin on the PSV stadium site search:

 

MLS stadium search gets delayed again, pushing it to spring or summer

By Kevin Lyttle - Austin American-Statesman

Posted: 6:24 p.m. Friday, February 02, 2018

 

More than 3½ months after Columbus Crew SC ownership publicly cast its eyes on Austin for 2019, the potential move seems as far away as ever.  What’s followed is a series of stops and starts and a general lack of clarity.  The only folks celebrating so far are neighborhood groups and activists working to strike parkland from the list of potential Major League Soccer stadium sites.  They were successful in derailing Precourt Sports Venture’s dream site, Butler Shores Metropolitan Park, before the debate even began.

 

On Saturday, the Save Our Parkland forces are rallying at Roy G. Guerrero Metropolitan Park, another desirable site identified by city staff Dec. 12, to remove it from the dwindling list of options.  A group called Friends of Austin Parkland has started a petition to eliminate Guerrero.  A city memorandum Friday requested a postponement of the soccer agenda item at the Feb. 15 council meeting and delayed a full vetting of any stadium site for an additional three months.  That extends the process into late spring/early summer.

( . . . )

Three delays have followed since Nov. 9 when the City Council unanimously passed a resolution asking staff to produce a list of possible stadium and training facility options. ... The next meeting where soccer could be discussed is March 1, meaning June 14 is the absolute earliest a stadium solution could be ironed out and fit the council schedule.  If parkland is in play, a November election is likely in the cards.

 

The Crew, already training for weeks, opens the regular season March 3, so its fate will be up in the air long after the MLS’ regular season kicks off.

 

MORE:  http://www.mystatesman.com/sports/soccer/mls-stadium-search-gets-delayed-again-pushing-spring-summer/2HoN0tEdE6tWJvMIyaV5DP/

Meanwhile in Columbus, #SaveTheCrew announced the sponsor for their community jersey:

 

Wait. Multi-year agreement?

 

https://www.columbuscrewsc.com/post/2018/02/06/crew-sc-extends-partnership-columbia-gas-ohio

 

https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2018/02/06/sponsor-signs-on-for-three-more-years-with-crew-sc.html

 

Another report about yesterday's multi-year agreement from Columbia Gas with Crew SC, and an interesting statement from the Columbia Gas director of communications about why they did this sponsorship deal:

 

http://www.dispatch.com/sports/20180206/crew-cuts-crew-extends-partnership-with-columbia-gas-of-ohio

 

Tickets are now on sale for an updated and extended #SaveTheCrew documentary to be shown March 9th at the Gateway Film Center:

 

http://gatewayfilmcenter.org/save-the-crew-the-battle-for-columbus/

 

^ Tickets have been selling well for the updated and extended #SaveTheCrew documentary to be shown March 9th at the Gateway Film Center:

 

Over the weekend on Saturday:  The Schott sold out for its 6PM OSU basketball game - then Nationwide Arena sold out for its 7PM CBJ hockey game.  Over 37,000+ in two buildings at the same time.  Twitter noticed and rightly mocked @thesoccerdon and @APrecourt for their previous statements about the viability of the Columbus sports market:

 

 

 

Meanwhile the #SaveTheCrew movement just keeps growing.  They announced another sponsor for their community jersey today:

 

More great work from #SaveTheCrew to keep the movement growing: https://savethecrew.com/allies

 

 

Taking a break from #SaveTheCrew to post about the on-the-field 2018 Columbus Crew:

 

Seems hard to believe, but the team has been in training camp for just over three full weeks and they've played a couple of exhibition matches in Hawaii.  Starting this weekend, they'll be playing in the Carolina Challenge Cup in Charleston, SC.  Below is the schedule for the Crew's upcoming matches - this Saturday vs. Atlanta United, next Wednesday vs. Charleston, next Saturday vs. Minnesota United.

 

 

The Crew's first MLS game is at Toronto on March 3rd and the Crew's first home game is on March 10th against Montreal.

 

Below is an excellent offseason recap guide from The Massive reddit feed:

 

Experts Weigh in on Possible Crew Stadium Locations

 

 

Dodge Park (Franklinton) – The city-owned parcel that holds a recreation center, swimming pool and skateboard park is a little over 18 acres, but adjacent land owned by the Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA) and the Ohio Department of Transportation could potentially add another eight acres to the total. The CMHA land is slated to be developed eventually as a future phase of the River & Rich project, which is currently under construction.

 

Lou Berliner Sports Park (Southwest Columbus) – A huge site currently used mostly for softball fields, it sits across the Scioto River from the Brewery District and Merion Village.

 

Mapfre Stadium (Ohio Expo Center and Fairgrounds) – The current home of the Crew SC takes up about 15 acres (that includes the stadium and a small amount of green space surrounding it, as well as the buildings containing the ticket booths). Many more acres of state-owned surface parking surround the stadium, as well as some privately-owned land south of Hudson Street.

 

560 W. Nationwide Blvd. (Downtown) – At one time slated to hold a casino, Nationwide Realty Investors (NRI) bought the roughly 20-acre site in 2011. Although NRI has not released any formal plans for the land, they’ve indicated in the past that some type of residential development is the most likely use for the site.

 

468 W. Nationwide Blvd. (Downtown) – This was floated as a potential stadium site by Schottenstein Real Estate Group, but nothing came of that plan. Although the two parcels that were being eyed for development totaled 20 acres, the railroad tracks running between them would have made it tough to fit a stadium in.

 

Scioto Peninsula (Franklinton) – A conceptual plan for 21 acres of publicly-owned land west of COSI was unveiled last February, and was further refined when a developer for the project was selected in December. A soccer stadium is not part of that plan, which call for office space, retail, and over 2,500 new residents on the site.

 

Abbott Laboratories site (Downtown) – Clocking in at over 25 acres, a plan for this site was floated by Columbus Foundation president Doug Kridler in November but then walked back the next day. It is located east of North Fifth Street and north of Mt Vernon Avenue, and is currently used for parking and truck storage.

 

More below:

http://www.columbusunderground.com/crew-stadium-locations-bw1

Dodge Park was just renovated a few years ago. It's also one of the only parks in Franklinton. A huge asset for that community. A big NO from me. Same with Berliner. A park that large and that is almost always packed every evening in the summer that close to the CBD is very valuable. No thank you to putting something used relatively rarely in those two spots.

 

Abbott clearly stated they use that land and it's probably valuable to them to hold onto for possible different uses in the future.

 

The southern part of Jeffrey Park would have been perfect. Probably no room for it now. Plus that neighborhood needs a park.

 

The White Castle property would have been good. That's being developed differently now.

 

If we're talking private property, how about the OSU and Spectrum property along Olentangy between Goodale and 3rd?

 

The Scioto Peninsula would have been good. Perhaps they could work the same density in around a stadium.

 

I think clearly the NRI or Shottenstein sites on W Nationwide are the best sites. Or renovating the current stadium, but how feasible is it to bring to current standards? Then you'd need the state to open the land around it to developers. How would that impact the fairgrounds business?

 

Lots of options, none of them seem ideal for practical solutions...

I've been enjoying watching the Columbus Crew win their first two games of the Carolina Challenge Cup in Charleston, SC.  They've got one more today before starting the MLS regular season at Toronto on March 3rd.

 

But our crummy owner and the creepy soccerdon say this might be the last season for the Columbus Crew.  If that's the case, then how are things going in Austin for them?  Well, yesterday featured this blistering column from the Austin American-Statesman entitled "Stuck between Columbus and Austin, has Precourt dropped the ball?":

 

http://www.mystatesman.com/sports/stuck-between-columbus-and-austin-has-precourt-dropped-the-ball/AkIVgwnNI1WIvULX5YrnZM/

 

Which of course was amplified by #SaveTheCrew:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plus a couple of really funny parody twitter accounts joined in:

 

And after that column was published, it was followed with this news:

 

 

From the linked article:  http://www.mystatesman.com/sports/soccer/austin-parks-now-wants-guerrero-removed-from-shrinking-stadium-list/TDZK2L5KcMrVE9etInh3RL/

 

"The Austin Parks and Recreation Department, which helped put together a list of potential Major League Soccer stadium sites that included Roy G. Guerrero Metropolitan Park, is now backtracking and reversing course."

 

"The Parks Department wants to strike Guerrero from the rapidly shrinking list of city-owned properties that staff presented to Precourt Sports Ventures two months ago.  A board recommendation posted Friday will be discussed at a meeting Tuesday night."

 

"Guerrero Park was thought to be the Columbus Crew SC owners’ No. 2 choice behind Butler Shores Metropolitan Park, which was yanked after pressure mounted by neighborhood groups and activists."

The 2018 Crew looked real good winning all three pre-season games in Charleston, SC and taking the Carolina Challenge Cup (again).  That's good and all - but let's not take our eyes off the #SaveTheCrew ball:

 

Another interesting soccer development from Austin:

 

---

Austin USL team gets OK to field team in ’19

 

The USL on Monday gave Austin’s USL team, owned by Circuit of the Americas Chairman Bobby Epstein, the green light to move forward with its efforts to have a product on the field in time for the 2019 season.

 

The directive, first reported Monday by the Austin American-Statesman newspaper, is a departure from recent months, in which the USL team, first announced in August, sat idle while it waited for Precourt Sports Ventures’ efforts to explore a Major League Soccer stadium site in Austin play out.

 

“The USL was really very understanding when the Crew said they were moving to Austin, and they let us get into a sort of wait-and-see mode,” Epstein said.  “But now I think there’s a widespread feeling that the Crew may not be coming to Austin after all.” ... Epstein said in November there was “zero chance” USL and MLS franchises would be able to coexist in Austin.

 

MORE:  http://www.dispatch.com/sports/20180226/crew-sc--austin-usl-team-gets-ok-to-field-team-in-19

Dodge Park was just renovated a few years ago. It's also one of the only parks in Franklinton. A huge asset for that community. A big NO from me. Same with Berliner. A park that large and that is almost always packed every evening in the summer that close to the CBD is very valuable. No thank you to putting something used relatively rarely in those two spots....

 

I've never been to Dodge Park (not a Columbus area resident) but It doesn't appear to be so much open greenspace than a collection of recreation facilities on one site (pool, ice rink, skate park, ball diamond, rec building). Is it not possible these amenities could still be kept in the vicinity for the use of the neighborhood.....just on another site(s).....if PSV or whoever winds up owning the Crew, puts up money for it?

 

Maybe the Cooper Stadium site? Or the car dealership on Broad next to Mt Carmel? Just spitballin. Would love to be enlightened.

^ Dodge Park could be a viable site.  But not the old Cooper Stadium site - it's a bad location and the reason the Clippers moved to Huntington Park downtown.  I still think that the most likely downtown site is the NRI-owned 560 W. Nationwide Blvd. location.  One of the #SaveTheCrew people did this mock-up of a new 'Mapfre Stadium' at this site: 

 

 

 

Nice recap of yesterday's #SaveTheCrew news from

 

Anthony Precourt: Soccer stadium could bring $400M to Austin economy

 

A stadium on public parkland in Austin could bring $400 million in economic benefits, according to the owner considering moving a Major League Soccer club to the Texas capital. But some residents oppose any use of parkland for private development — as the Austin Sierra Club conservation chairman put it, "not one square foot." All this is happening as another soccer league targets Austin.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2018/02/28/anthony-precourt-soccer-stadium-could-bring-400m.html

 

^ That Precourt statement was such a non-story.  Just a repackaging of old PSV talking points.  But I guess PSV felt pressure to build some positive momentum in Austin and take some steam from the #SaveTheCrew movement.  It failed on both fronts.

 

First, it highlighted (yet again) what a d!ck owner Precourt and his PSV minions have been:

 

 

 

 

 

Then, it didn't build any positive momentum in Austin:

 

 

 

 

 

And it certainly didn't take any steam from the #SaveTheCrew movement:

 

Supportive #SaveTheCrew resolution passed today by the Ohio Senate: 

 

Sure, it's only a symbolic show of support.  But anytime you can get this kind of bipartisan agreement, it should be noted:

 

^ Dodge Park could be a viable site.  But not the old Cooper Stadium site - it's a bad location and the reason the Clippers moved to Huntington Park downtown.  I still think that the most likely downtown site is the NRI-owned 560 W. Nationwide Blvd. location.  One of the #SaveTheCrew people did this mock-up of a new 'Mapfre Stadium' at this site: 

 

 

Oh, I meant Cooper for a spot to relocate recreational facilities that are at Dodge.

 

NRI is still the best choice since nothing has to be moved. It's a blank canvas ready to be painted black and gold in the Arena District. The only issue I can see is maybe improving access since its kinda at the end of a dead end street basically but a stadium there would be a huge catalyst for development in the western end of the AD.

I still don't know that if anything happened at Cooper whether there would have to be retention ponds all over the place or not. If Arshot would have left Cooper alone the old site may have been able to be grandfathered in but since they tore everything down it may have kicked in the retention pond requirement. Retention ponds are also screwing attempts to build anything in the AD rail triangle.

Such a quiet, strange part of town back there on W. Nationwide. I lived half a mile away for five years, often went running around the area, and I've only ever been back there one time. It's probably good for a stadium because I feel like it's kind of out of the way for other types of development that wouldn't be as much of a destination.

Could Nationwide Blvd. be extended to go over the Olentangy, curving down to Spring/Long St?  Also, I wonder if a northbound street could go under 670 into the new White Castle development to connect to Goodale St. WCs plans make it looks like a drive on the east side of the property might go under 670.

 

Just brainstorming over here!

^ Dodge Park could be a viable site.  But not the old Cooper Stadium site - it's a bad location and the reason the Clippers moved to Huntington Park downtown.  I still think that the most likely downtown site is the NRI-owned 560 W. Nationwide Blvd. location.  One of the #SaveTheCrew people did this mock-up of a new 'Mapfre Stadium' at this site: 

 

 

Neat! I put together a hastily-made stadium development in that spot a few months ago:

 

 

It does seem like the best spot if something were to be done. I honestly do not know of any other spots near downtown that are viable.

^Wasn't that land earmarked for "Pen West" and/or the Schottenstein Central Station towers (that fell through, I think?)?

 

I remember someone here (or on Twitter) saying basically the land at the west end of the Arena District was either 1) already bought and earmarked for projects and/or 2) not big enough for what the Crew wants.

 

The only other downtown spot was over near Abbott HQs I thought - it's admittedly hard to keep up with fan proposals, downtown commission proposals, etc.