The Louisville number is so high because Louisville was playing Indiana in college basketball immediately before the MLS Final on the same network. Pretty sad statistic.

Article was behind a paywall.  Are the references to Detroit and Nashville then references to incentive packages put forth by those municipalities?  (In other words, just trying to hype up a bidding war?)

 

Either way, I supported public incentives for the Arena District because (a) it was a new arena for a new team, (b) it was to replace a dilapidated jail that was an active liability for a part of downtown ripe for development, and © it came with a major commitment of corporate support for redevelopment of the entire area, not just the stadium itself (so the promise of follow-on private capital was a lot more real, a lot less speculative, than in many stadium hope-and-pray deals).  Almost nothing that the Crew owners could be demanding from Columbus has much chance of offering comparable upside (or the elimination of comparable downsides).  There's nothing wrong with playing in an old venue; it's not like the place is about to collapse.  (How long did the Clippers play on the West Side, again?)

 

If Columbus and Franklin County "lose" the crew in the sense of not being able to sell out the public purse enough to keep them, I'll consider that a loss worth losing.  Especially because, given the current ownership group, you have to assume that they wouldn't accept a deal that would keep them here for the truly long term.  (By contrast, I think the Blue Jackets now have a deal that will keep them here for something like 20 or even 30 years.)

 

His references to Columbus in comparing them to the expansion teams are essentially that Columbus has never really supported the team and they could have put their money where their mouth was 5 years ago. He also talks about Miami in the article where he says that for stability of the league you need to have a local ownership group. That is one of the reasons why Miami has not gotten off the ground yet. He says that the thing that the 4 expansion finalists have is strong local ownership to build stability in their markets and ultimately, that is what will lead to long term success. He then says (indirectly) that Columbus could have stepped up 5 years ago and had local ownership purchase the team and then they would not be in this mess.  What this article essentially is saying and Garber admitting is that once PreCourt purchased the team, he had every right to move wherever he wanted and no allegiances to Columbus. That is true for most major league sports. Outside of the major markets, local ownership is essential in their teams too.

The MLS is effing stupid.

 

https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2017/12/11/mls-cup-2017-television-ratings-espn-rise-75-percent-over-2015-edition

 

Or, from a non-mls.com site:  http://worldsoccertalk.com/2017/12/12/2017-mls-cup-final-viewership-drops-43-across-espn-univision-deportes/

 

"The 2017 MLS Cup final between Toronto FC and Seattle Sounders averaged 1.1 million viewers across ESPN, UniMas and Univision Deportes combined, which is a 43% drop compared to last year’s final (which was on the FOX network and Univision)"

The cool detached professional veneer of MLS commish Don Garber (aka @thesoccerdon) is starting to crack:

 

 

My new FB pic.

this is so ridiculous. columbus has well supported the crew since day one when it was a club team. just sell the team off to wexner or somebody else local already. twin city austin is a lateral move at best. sheesh. its sad to hear.

And just in time for The Last Jedi, #SaveTheCrew got this included in the pre-screening ads/notices at every AMC theater in Columbus:

 

 

Found the full #SaveTheCrew ad being shown in AMC theaters on YouTube:

 

That's wild. Hell of a job by the Save The Crew folks.

^ That is a pretty cool video, but some of those 'icons' aren't very iconic. Is there any sort of deadline for the MLS to announce whether the Crew is moving or staying?

That's wild. Hell of a job by the Save The Crew folks.

 

Amazing the way these volunteers of the #SaveTheCrew movement can work with the Columbus corporate community but the "professionals" of Precourt Sports Ventures can't.

Is there any sort of deadline for the MLS to announce whether the Crew is moving or staying?

 

Deadlines?  You're assuming that Precourt and MLS have some idea what they're doing!  They don't and are playing this day-to-day and week-to-week.

Wonderful shout-out to the #SaveTheCrew movement in this MLS 2018 article from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:

 

http://m.startribune.com/time-s-a-wasting-for-mls-to-get-cracking-on-to-do-list/464512933/

 

"Just as every team is trying to address offseason needs, the league needs to start working on its 2018 to-do list right now.  Priority No. 1 has to be keeping the Columbus Crew in Columbus, no matter the whims of owner Anthony Precourt."

 

"Columbus is one of the league’s founding members.  In some ways, its stadium — the venue for many of the men’s national team’s most memorable victories, all against Mexico — is the spiritual home of American soccer.  Throwing all of that away over declining revenue would be a slap in the face to every fan who has loyally followed the league through all of its varied missteps.  If nothing else, the Crew has to stay in Columbus to let MLS fans know that they matter more than the pocketbooks of team owners."

For much more about the #SaveTheCrew movement, Columbus resident Sean Kelly, who is originally from Great Britain, produced an hour-long video documentary "Save the Crew: The Fans Vs. The System".

 

According to http://myfox28columbus.com/news/local/save-the-crew-movement-hits-the-big-screen - Kelly used his 15 years of experience working in television to put together the video documentary with no budget and only a week to get it done.  It's been picked up by a British fan network called Ball Street and posted on YouTube:

 

Here's a short 8 minute version with an introduction from Ball Street:

 

And here's a link to the full hour-long documentary of "Save the Crew: The Fans Vs. The System":

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEnZNzwAnMg&feature=youtu.be

 

 

 

Hardly the same...sorry but the Crew leaving Columbus is not equivalent to the Browns leaving Cleveland.

And how do they know the team will be profitable in Austin? Poor-mouthing is one of a businesspersons favorite techniques. Hell, I do it!

 

Exactly. Going to Austin is a lateral move, Columbus and Austin are very similar size-wise. Demographics are similar too - Austin's median age is 34.4 and Columbus' is 35.6. The only big difference I see is Austin is more Hispanic and less white than Columbus.

 

It doesn't have anything to do profitability or demographics, he is lying. What it has to do with is this guy has had his sight set on Austin from day one, and never gave Columbus or Ohio a chance, didn't know anything about us and was never interested. When really they are very comparable cities at the end of the day. I was never a huge fan of soccer or the Crew but I went to a handful of games when I was living in Cbus and I was always very impressed by the devotion of the diehard fans. The stadium was basic but it was fun, everybody banging on the metal bleachers making tons of noise. I also have always found Lamar Hunt to be an interesting character in American sports, founding the AFL and then MLS and the Crew. Ironically he was a Texan, but of course he and his family always treated Columbus well.

 

These diehard fans deserve better. It's very rare that we have such a true villain as Precourt. He's just a snake who bought a team with the intention of stealing it.  There is no other side of the story. At least Art Modell gave Cleveland his all for thirty years before he did what he did.

 

Columbus til I die!

Wonderful shout-out to the #SaveTheCrew movement in this MLS 2018 article from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:

 

http://m.startribune.com/time-s-a-wasting-for-mls-to-get-cracking-on-to-do-list/464512933/

 

"Just as every team is trying to address offseason needs, the league needs to start working on its 2018 to-do list right now.  Priority No. 1 has to be keeping the Columbus Crew in Columbus, no matter the whims of owner Anthony Precourt."

 

"Columbus is one of the league’s founding members.  In some ways, its stadium — the venue for many of the men’s national team’s most memorable victories, all against Mexico — is the spiritual home of American soccer.  Throwing all of that away over declining revenue would be a slap in the face to every fan who has loyally followed the league through all of its varied missteps.  If nothing else, the Crew has to stay in Columbus to let MLS fans know that they matter more than the pocketbooks of team owners."

 

Why is the MLS supposed to be immune to moving teams?  This article states that declining revenues should not be a cause to leave a city...huh?  Columbus Crew Stadium is the ''spiritual home'' of US soccer?  Slap in the face to Crew fans.

 

Welcome to professional sports MLS fans. 

 

This writer is only using the Columbus situation because Minneapolis just got an expansion team playing.  I don't know the cost or if there was local drama in MN getting its franchise.  Maybe it's the writer's wishing-and-hoping attempt to avoid the scenarios other established major league sports face: teams lose money=owners move teams.  It's the easiest equation of all time.  Owners move teams for other reasons as well, for example, higher growth potential.

 

The MLS is old enough now and has to face the fact that some teams may move.  MLS is supposed to be Major League.  There's gonna be some slaps in some faces.  The MLS is old enough now and has to deal with the fact that some teams may move.

 

Columbus is just the first time the MLS has had to deal with this issue.  Not sure how it will work out in the end but if the owner/s want out, they get out. Cincinnati is simultaneously competing for an expansion team.  That can't help if Cinci gets a team.

Precourt is poor-mouthing and purposely understating attendance figures in order to move the team to a city that has a good chance of generating bigger losses. Sure there's projections that it may do better, but they just are projections. If you've been in business for a while you don't trust projections since actual demand is very unpredictable.

 

Baltimore at least had an extensive NFL history before the Ravens.

Precourt is poor-mouthing and purposely understating attendance figures in order to move the team to a city that has a good chance of generating bigger losses. Sure there's projections that it may do better, but they just are projections. If you've been in business for a while you don't trust projections since actual demand is very unpredictable.

 

Baltimore at least had an extensive NFL history before the Ravens.

 

With that reasoning, Columbus should be in good standing for another city's re-location or an expansion under new ownership. 

 

Right or wrong business decision, Precourt wants out of Columbus

Yeah, he just wants to go to Austin, has nothing to do with money.

Wonderful shout-out to the #SaveTheCrew movement in this MLS 2018 article from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:

 

http://m.startribune.com/time-s-a-wasting-for-mls-to-get-cracking-on-to-do-list/464512933/

 

"Just as every team is trying to address offseason needs, the league needs to start working on its 2018 to-do list right now.  Priority No. 1 has to be keeping the Columbus Crew in Columbus, no matter the whims of owner Anthony Precourt."

 

"Columbus is one of the league’s founding members.  In some ways, its stadium — the venue for many of the men’s national team’s most memorable victories, all against Mexico — is the spiritual home of American soccer.  Throwing all of that away over declining revenue would be a slap in the face to every fan who has loyally followed the league through all of its varied missteps.  If nothing else, the Crew has to stay in Columbus to let MLS fans know that they matter more than the pocketbooks of team owners."

 

Why is the MLS supposed to be immune to moving teams?  This article states that declining revenues should not be a cause to leave a city...huh?  Columbus Crew Stadium is the ''spiritual home'' of US soccer?  Slap in the face to Crew fans.

 

Welcome to professional sports MLS fans. 

 

This writer is only using the Columbus situation because Minneapolis just got an expansion team playing.  I don't know the cost or if there was local drama in MN getting its franchise.  Maybe it's the writer's wishing-and-hoping attempt to avoid the scenarios other established major league sports face: teams lose money=owners move teams.  It's the easiest equation of all time.  Owners move teams for other reasons as well, for example, higher growth potential.

 

The MLS is old enough now and has to face the fact that some teams may move.  MLS is supposed to be Major League.  There's gonna be some slaps in some faces.  The MLS is old enough now and has to deal with the fact that some teams may move.

 

Columbus is just the first time the MLS has had to deal with this issue.  Not sure how it will work out in the end but if the owner/s want out, they get out. Cincinnati is simultaneously competing for an expansion team.  That can't help if Cinci gets a team.

 

The issue is soccer the world over is different. As far as I know teams don't move. If a team can be profitable in a small town in Spain or England or Germany why not here in a mid sized city? You can't use the excuse anymore that soccer isn't popular here, because it now is.

It has to do with his percieved ideas that Austin can be a more profitable market going forward in the future. As of now, there's not that much difference between Austin and Columbus. He sees Austin as this trendy hip place exploding with new business......with no professional sports teams....that will be a perfect soccer market.

 

He might not be wrong. But it's far from a sure deal there. There will be vast opposition to building on parkland and at 20k, he's already limiting himself to only a few thousand more potential attendees per game than hes currently getting in Columbus. It's understandable that a business owner who has attempted to be successful in a particular business market but failed would search for greener pastures....and all of the detractors and proponents of this move keep justifying like that. The issue with that claim is that Precourt never actual tried much to succeed here. He was here for 4 years and barely spent any money on improving the team. There's no legitimacy to any argument that he tried to make it work here. His most notable investments, if you can call them that, were replacing the video/scoreboard (and that was because it erupted into flames)...and sprucing up the existing locker rooms and training facilities a bit. And on the player expenditure front, only now in the most recent season did he carry a full complement of 3 Designated Players. In the last season they cut promotions and advertising and marketing. They pretty much gave up before they even started.

 

He never thought for a second that maybe spending that couple hundred mil in Columbus instead might result in his existing team stepping up to the next level. Weve already shown we can routinely attract 15 to 17k regularly in our barebones erector set stadium in a muddy field at the fairgounds. Imagine how we would draw in a modern stadium, downtown, in proximity to all of the activity of the central city. That was never the plan though anyway....proven by the fact that PSV has been offered several, viable sites in great locations and declined them all.

What ticks me off about it is that Columbus and Austin are quite similar places, it's just that Austin has done a bit better at branding and selling themselves to the outside world. SXSW and Austin City Limits are big in that regard. BUt Precourt's refusal to give us a chance, I chalk it up to a bias against Ohio/the Midwest.

What ticks me off about it is that Columbus and Austin are quite similar places, it's just that Austin has done a bit better at branding and selling themselves to the outside world. SXSW and Austin City Limits are big in that regard. BUt Precourt's refusal to give us a chance, I chalk it up to a bias against Ohio/the Midwest.

 

Just by the simple fact that he had an escape clause (specifically to Austin) in his purchase agreement when buying the club.....tells you all you need to know. He thought of us as nothing but a stepping stone, right out the gate.

Wonderful shout-out to the #SaveTheCrew movement in this MLS 2018 article from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:

 

http://m.startribune.com/time-s-a-wasting-for-mls-to-get-cracking-on-to-do-list/464512933/

 

"Just as every team is trying to address offseason needs, the league needs to start working on its 2018 to-do list right now.  Priority No. 1 has to be keeping the Columbus Crew in Columbus, no matter the whims of owner Anthony Precourt."

 

"Columbus is one of the league’s founding members.  In some ways, its stadium — the venue for many of the men’s national team’s most memorable victories, all against Mexico — is the spiritual home of American soccer.  Throwing all of that away over declining revenue would be a slap in the face to every fan who has loyally followed the league through all of its varied missteps.  If nothing else, the Crew has to stay in Columbus to let MLS fans know that they matter more than the pocketbooks of team owners."

 

Why is the MLS supposed to be immune to moving teams?  This article states that declining revenues should not be a cause to leave a city...huh?  Columbus Crew Stadium is the ''spiritual home'' of US soccer?  Slap in the face to Crew fans.

 

Welcome to professional sports MLS fans. 

 

This writer is only using the Columbus situation because Minneapolis just got an expansion team playing.  I don't know the cost or if there was local drama in MN getting its franchise.  Maybe it's the writer's wishing-and-hoping attempt to avoid the scenarios other established major league sports face: teams lose money=owners move teams.  It's the easiest equation of all time.  Owners move teams for other reasons as well, for example, higher growth potential.

 

The MLS is old enough now and has to face the fact that some teams may move.  MLS is supposed to be Major League.  There's gonna be some slaps in some faces.  The MLS is old enough now and has to deal with the fact that some teams may move.

 

Columbus is just the first time the MLS has had to deal with this issue.  Not sure how it will work out in the end but if the owner/s want out, they get out. Cincinnati is simultaneously competing for an expansion team.  That can't help if Cinci gets a team.

 

The issue is soccer the world over is different. As far as I know teams don't move. If a team can be profitable in a small town in Spain or England or Germany why not here in a mid sized city? You can't use the excuse anymore that soccer isn't popular here, because it now is.

 

Many sports are played the world over.  Soccer is one of those sports.  It's up to the owners; in this Precourt wants out of Columbus.  Simply because you claim the issue is that ''soccer the world over is different'' doesn't mean Precourt can't or won't move The Crew.

 

Hope it works out.  The latest round of MLS expansion is expected in the next couple of days. 

I'm not saying can't or won't. I'm saying why mls shouldn't be doing this. 

I saw a tweet earlier today about the MLS picking Nashville where they plan to build a stadium on the fairgrounds outside of downtown.  This person went on to wonder why you plan to move the Crew because the MLS' reason was because their stadium was at the fairgrounds outside of downtown.  So let's just assume Sacramento gets their team, the MLS moves the Crew, and Cincinnati is not selected.  Screw the MLS, they are already looking terrible moving into expansion mode. 

Lol i saw that too and pointed out the hypocrisy on Facebook.

- I wholeheartedly second this #SaveTheCrew holiday sentiment:

 

 

 

I saw a tweet earlier today about the MLS picking Nashville where they plan to build a stadium on the fairgrounds outside of downtown.  This person went on to wonder why you plan to move the Crew because the MLS' reason was because their stadium was at the fairgrounds outside of downtown.  So let's just assume Sacramento gets their team, the MLS moves the Crew, and Cincinnati is not selected.  Screw the MLS, they are already looking terrible moving into expansion mode. 

 

Lol i saw that too and pointed out the hypocrisy on Facebook.

 

I'm not at all a fan of the attempt to move The Crew to Austin, but while the sites of Nashville and Crew Stadium are both "fairgrounds," the situations are different. Unlike Columbus, the Nashville MLS group has plans to develop the area surrounding their stadium. Yeah, it's going to be at an area named fairgrounds, but it's not going to be the only thing sitting in a vast parking lot with no bars, entertainment, or restaurants around it.

Also the Nashville Fairgounds are adjacent to the Wedgewood-Houston neighborhood which I've heard is kind of an up and coming neighborhood. From a cursory Google Maps  visit, I see theres already several hip looking restaurants and bars in the area within walking distance....and there's still all of the intended development that will accompany the stadium as well as the likely spike in revitalization of the neighborhood.

 

So it's not exactly the same situation people are making it out to be. Even if you wanted to make something similar happen here....Crew stadium is already penned in by suburban style development to the north (Lowes, Aldi, etc.), railroad to the west and I-71 to the east. Theres obviously tons of land to the south on the fairgrounds/expo property that's the current parking lots but it's necessary for lots of events, be it the fair,  quarter horse Congress, etc and would never be considered by the state.

 

I love our current stadium but I also feel that it has quickly become obsolete...through no fault of it/the organizations own. The leagues exponential growth has just made it so. I'm a firm believer that a more centrally located, modern stadium, with adjacent walkable amenities, business, and activity is crucial to the long term sustainability and growth of the club. I however do not think that we desperately need to be high tailing it out of Mapfre in one years time from now if we can't get a new stadium done right away. It's clear there are people and entities in this city that do want to help the Crew and it has become apparent that there are plenty of viable locations for a new stadium. PSV has rejected any of those possibilities though so it's come down to a necessary legal battle to  Save the Crew.

A sampling of presents given for Crewsmas 2017.  Normally, there'd be a bunch of MLS-licensed Crew SC merchandise.  But with the twin MLS grinches of Anthony Precourt and Don Garber threatening the team, MLS-licensed presents got replaced with #SaveTheCrew merchandise:

 

 

It looked like lots of the #SaveTheCrew merch was obtained at the official #SaveTheCrew website: https://shop.savethecrew.com/

 

Some of the #SaveTheCrew gifts were homemade:

 

And then there were the socks.  Oh, so many socks!

 

 

But even if you didn't get an official or homemade #SaveTheCrew gift, other gifts could be repurposed!

Well, its 2018.  The fight to #SaveTheCrew continues.  And there's going to be plenty of news on this front later in 2018.

 

But for this post, I'd like to remember the 2017 highwater mark for the #SaveTheCrew movement.  It occurred when the Columbus Crew and Mapfre Stadium hosted the first game of the MLS Eastern Conference Final on November 21, 2017.

 

Despite the horrible news surrounding the franchise, the game was a SRO sell-out.  Due in no small part to the #SaveTheCrew movement - because the Precourt-controlled Crew SC front office did nearly zero ticket promotion and fan outreach for the game.  But the game did sell-out with a 21,000+ attendance and #SaveTheCrew was out in force.

 

For this nationally televised game, 15,000 #SaveTheCrew signs were printed up and distributed to the Crew faithful:

 

 

 

Although the Precourt-controlled front office didn't promote the game, they did try to goon up the festivities by only opening two gates for entry into the stadium.  This is something that Precourt did for an earlier playoff game on Oct. 31, so Crew fans thought they were prepared for this by lining up more than two hours before kickoff for entry.  But by kickoff time, thousands of fans were still in line:

 

 

This Precourt tactic against his own team's fans was something that was duly noted by the national media:

 

And was especially called out in this article from NBC Soccer Talk:  http://soccer.nbcsports.com/2017/11/21/three-things-being-happy-with-0-0-and-sabotage-by-precourt/

 

 

Those who did get into the stadium by kickoff were treated to a very special "Respect Your Roots" tifo unfurled in the Nordecke.  The tifo had the logos of the ten original MLS teams from 1996 (including the Columbus Crew), a massive tree growing from those "roots", Respect Your Roots written on the tree canopy, and 22 tent-pole signs with the logos of the current 22 MLS teams above the tree canopy.  --  Alejandro Moreno, a soccer analyst for ESPN and former member of the 2008 MLS Cup winning Crew team, tweeted this out about the "Respect Your Roots" tifo banner:

 

 

The game itself couldn't really match the #SaveTheCrew intensity focused on this event, but the festivities were something to behold.  Here are some photos of Crew/Mapfre Stadium with the SRO sell-out crowd of over 21,000.  The juxtaposition of Precourt/Garber statements about the supposed lack of Crew fan support and the overwhelming outpouring visuals of actual Crew fan support made for some biting twitter commentary aimed at MLS:

 

 

 

 

Now back to the beginning of the #SaveTheCrew movement in 2017:

 

When Precourt announced his intent to move the Crew to Austin after 2018, he made that announcement a few days prior to the final regular season game on the 2017 MLS schedule.  As one of the leaders of the #SaveTheCrew movement said repeatedly, Crew fans rallied from crying in their beer into channeling their outrage to action.  And the #SaveTheCrew movement was born.

 

The first big indication that #SaveTheCrew would be massive occurred on a sunny Sunday just prior to the last regular season game of 2017.  Over 2,000 fans showed up - on 2 days notice - for the first #SaveTheCrew rally at the steps of City Hall:

 

 

At this rally, the first #SaveTheCrew banner was made for fans to sign.  Below is a screenshot of a video made in front of that banner.  A Crew fan, and Columbus resident who moved here from England, summed up what a soccer club means to its community (and was later tweeted out by the official #SaveTheCrew twitter account).

 

And here is that first #SaveTheCrew banner with the supporters signatures displayed after the City Hall rally at a local supporters bar:

Then, other #SaveTheCrew signs starting showing up in Columbus.

 

On freeway overpasses:

 

On cars:

 

At businesses:

 

At residences:

 

Plus the occasional profane sign directed at the owner:

And then #SaveTheCrew signs started showing up in MLS stadiums across the country and soccer stadiums around the world:

 

MLS team supporters on the last regular season game of 2017 --- montage of locations:

 

Houston:

 

New York Red Bulls:

 

Seattle:

 

Toronto fan:

 

The Men in Blazers show (twice):

 

Outside the MLS offices in NYC:

 

Outside The Big House with Cardale Jones:

 

Inside The Big House during the OSU/MICH game:

 

Getting some national screentime while defeating the Fighting Harbaughs:

 

At a Cavs game:

 

At CBJ games:

 

 

 

 

Across the pond in the EPL at Wembley Stadium:

 

Watford:

 

Huddersfield:

 

And even some #SaveTheCrew support from Brazil:

 

And from Australia:

And as if that wasn't enough #SaveTheCrew signage, there's this humorous video of one of the #SaveTheCrew leaders delivering a bunch of official #SaveTheCrew yard signs ordered through the SaveTheCrew website -- in the middle of a beautiful Ohio winter:

 

This donated digital billboard sign nicely sums up the remainder of 2017 for the #SaveTheCrew movement and the way forward into 2018:

 

And this billboard message points to one of the multiple ways forward for the #SaveTheCrew movement in 2018:

 

 

Here is the link to the letter:  https://savethecrew.com/letter

 

As of this posting, there have been over 20,000 people who have signed the Save The Crew letter at that link.  They have signers that support every other MLS team, as well as supporters from 36 other countries.  The SaveTheCrew website came up with this way to visually display that diverse support:

Another more local way to support for #SaveTheCrew is shown in the Business Allies section of the SaveTheCrew website:  https://savethecrew.com/allies

 

The #SaveTheCrew movement has gotten over 200 local business to sign up as official business allies.  The above link shows all of the businesses that have signed up.  In addition, STC volunteers have spent many weekends placing an official business ally on the storefronts of those businesses:

 

These and other action items for the #SaveTheCrew movement were discussed at the first #SaveTheCrew update meeting held last weekend.

 

 

About 200 supporters packed the Land-Grant Brewing Company on a cold, snowy, icy Saturday afternoon to hear leaders from the #SaveTheCrew movement update them on what is being done to keep the Crew in Columbus.  STC leadership recapped how far #SaveTheCrew has come in the past three months, and where it is going in the coming year.  Below is a recap of the meeting and the full video of the meeting:

 

https://blog.savethecrew.com/2018/01/recap-of-state-of-savethecrew/

 

Columbus Crew owner rejects proposed Austin stadium site

 

Austin's Travis County Exposition Center wouldn't work as the location for a $175 million-or-more Major League Soccer stadium envisioned by Precourt Sports Ventures, the owner of the Columbus Crew SC team that is considering a relocation.

 

Executives with the pro sports group visited the site and determined it wouldn't work because of its distance from the urban core, the Austin American-Statesman reports.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2018/01/19/columbus-crew-owner-rejects-proposed-austin.html

Stories like this make one wonder if Precourt Sports Ventures (and MLS by default) have any idea what they are doing in Austin:

 

Austin officials halt stadium-site work after team owners don’t provide feedback

By Andrew Erickson, The Columbus Dispatch

Updated: January 18, 2018 at 5:57 AM

 

Austin, Texas, city staff is asking for additional feedback from Crew SC’s ownership group on its preferred locations for a soccer stadium on public land before it will proceed with a detailed analysis of those sites, according to a memo sent Wednesday to Mayor Steve Adler.

 

On Dec. 14, Kimberly McNeeley, the acting director for Austin parks and recreation, released a 34-page report detailing eight locations — seven city-owned, one owned by a local school district — that might be suitable for a Major League Soccer stadium, a practice facility or both.  According to McNeeley’s memo Wednesday, the December report came with the expectation that representatives from Precourt Sports Ventures, which owns the Crew and is considering moving the team there after the 2018 season, would provide feedback and that city staff would then continue with more in-depth analysis of the preferred sites.

 

“To date, Precourt Sports Ventures has not yet provided definitive feedback regarding the viability of any proposed properties named in the Dec. 14, 2017, report,” the memo read.  Without a consensus, McNeeley’s memo stated, Austin city staff does not think it is advisable to do further analysis or outreach to potential stakeholders.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/sports/20180117/crew-sc--austin-officials-halt-stadium-site-work-after-team-owners-dont-provide-feedback

Some additional less-than-encouraging Austin news for PSV:

 

Pressure rises to pull parkland as options for MLS stadium in Austin

By Kevin Lyttle - Austin American-Statesman Staff

Posted: Tuesday, January 23, 2018 - 7:40 p.m.

 

Momentum is building to remove Precourt Sports Ventures’ preferred city parkland sites for a Major League Soccer stadium from consideration by the Austin City Council.

 

Kathie Tovo, a critical swing vote on the council in the soccer saga, told the American-Statesman on Tuesday night that Butler Shores Metropolitan Park and Roy Guerrero Metropolitan Park are generating too much public outcry to consider giving up parkland for a sports venue.

 

“They don’t appear to have support from the community, primarily Butler Shores, but there are general concerns about Guerrero, as well,” Tovo said.  “Based on all the calls and emails our staff is getting, I don’t think either site is a viable option."

 

MORE: http://www.mystatesman.com/sports/soccer/pressure-rises-pull-parkland-options-for-mls-stadium-austin/3jtDi4hRnke3ojOwLnEIlJ/

^

Surprise, surprise - the failing PSV is still failing in Austin:

 

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Opposition mounts to a pro soccer stadium on Austin parkland:

 

https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/2018/01/24/opposition-mounts-to-a-pro-soccer-stadium-on.html

 

 

So much so that PSV is sending out public pleas for help from their MLS2ATX astroturf twitter account:

 

 

 

Which got this priceless response from the fake Don Garber twitter account:

 

All of this recent PSV failing plus MLS complicity plus #SaveTheCrew success has been thoughtfully recapped in this article at The Comeback:

 

http://thecomeback.com/soccer/columbus-crew-ownership-bashes-fans-in-columbus-for-complications-in-moving-team-to-austin.html