SoutheasternOhioPreps.com

cbolt wrote: ↑Mon Oct 23, 2017 11:17 pm Heard where Austin never even applied to get them. They probably banking on the large hispanic base down there. Good luck Crew we never knew ye

It appears to be done.

I’ve received reliable information that, almost a year to the day when Anthony Precourt announced he was exploring the opportunity to relocate the Columbus Crew to Austin, that the Columbus Crew have been saved. Requests for comments from MLS have not yet been returned; the plaintiffs declined to provide a comment at this time.

What I’ve been told is that the deal to keep the team in Columbus is “largely done.” Precourt will be awarded a team in Austin. The Columbus Crew will remain where they are under new ownership. What wasn’t quite clear was how this will be effected. The information I was told is that the Columbus will get an “expansion” team, but will keep their name, players and identity and will play in 2019. Which doesn’t sound like an expansion team, but we’ll have to wait for an update.

Precourt will be sent to Austin having been paid out for his ability to operate the Crew in Columbus. Whether that means he will operate a team in Austin in 2019 is up in the air. As I’ve previously said, Precourt has had issues finding a temporary site, but perhaps that issue has been resolved. The mostly likely outcome is that Precourt waits until a stadium gets built. Reports on who will be purchasing the Crew I cannot confirm.

Now, eagle-eyed readers will note that “largely done” doesn’t mean “official.” Until the signatures are affixed, it’s entirely possible that things fall apart.

A resolution to this case would mark a remarkable -and sudden- end to a situation that captured the imagination of American soccer in a short period of time. The use of a statute passed by the Ohio legislature to hold up (if not prevent) a potential relocation of a professional sports franchise was unprecedented. It led to nearly six months of litigation, where the plaintiffs fought to keep the team, while the fans mounted an impressive campaign to spread awareness.

Yet behind that, there has always been uneasiness with the relocation, even in Austin. Local politicians were initially lukewarm to the move, and it was difficult to secure a location to move the team, in addition to coming to an agreement on where to play. Even now, that situation is unsettled.

But that aside, this is ultimately about the Columbus Crew staying where they are. A formal announcement could come at any time today, or not at all. What I’ve heard is that this deal has been mostly done for a few days, but as these things go, they’re impossible to keep under wraps. Thus, while an announcement may not originally have been planed for today, the leaks have sped up the timeline. Stay tuned; I’ll have all the information right here.