General Media

Smith: As U.S. Soccer crumples, professional soccer in Central Texas potentially blossoms

By Zach Smith | October 18, 2017

I know the Crew would do well here. But it's hard for me to think of everything they've built in Ohio and know the people and the supporters that are so passionate and make the sport great lose everything.

Admittedly, my opinion is biased because of my personal connection to Columbus. But that doesn't change what I think a relocation would do to both fanbases.

Austin deserves an MLS team, but this isn't the right one. - Source Hill Country News

Thousands Turn Out For 'Save the Crew' Rally Downtown

By Steve Brown | October 23, 2017

The steps outside Columbus City Hall turned into a sea of black and gold on Sunday as thousands of Crew SC fans turned out for a “Save the Crew” rally. The rally came five days after team owner Anthony Precourt confirmed reports that he’s exploring moving the soccer club to Austin, Texas, unless a new downtown stadium is built in Columbus. - Source WOSU

Where can an owner move their football club 1,000 miles on a whim? America

By Jakub Frankowicz | October 26, 2017

The thought of one of MLS’s founding clubs suddenly moving rattled the fans in the Nordecke, the supporters group coalition for the Crew. The Nordecke called for a #SavetheCrew Rally and they have enjoyed broad support from fans across the league. - Source The Guardian

#SaveTheCrew signs take over College GameDay

By ESPN | October 28, 2017 Source ESPN

#SaveTheCrew: La Voce Dei Tifosi È L’Unice Che Conta [The Voice of the Fans is the Only One That Matters]

Sono tutto, i tifosi. Potrai forse togliere l’Argentina dalla mente e dal cuore di un futbolista, ma non potrai mai togliere la squadra per cui soffri ogni domenica dal cuore di un tifoso. Perché quel muscolo involontario batte volontariamente per la squadra della tua città, corre al ritmo dei tuoi giocatori, balla ai cori della tua curva, esulta ai gol dei tuoi beniamini. Custode del sacro fuoco, è l’unico vero proprietario, pur non stringendo altro che una bandiera o una sciarpa, pur non indossando altro che una maglietta e un cappellino, pur non parlando altro che la lingua del cuore. L’unica che nel calcio andrebbe veramente ascoltata [I'm everything, the fans. You can perhaps remove Argentina from the mind and heart of a futbolist, but you can never remove the team you suffer for every Sunday from the heart of a fan. Because that involuntary muscle voluntarily beats for the team of your city, runs to the rhythm of your players, dances to the chorus of your curve, rejoices to the goals of your favorites. Guardian of the sacred fire, the fan is the only true owner, although he is holding nothing but a flag or a scarf, although he is wearing nothing but a shirt and a cap, although he does not speak anything other than the language of the heart. The only one that really should be heard in football] Source MLS Soccer Italia

How #SaveTheCrew grew from hashtag and Twitter DM to nationwide movement

By Henry Bushnell | October 31, 2017

After the 2,000 Ohioans dispersed on that Sunday afternoon, Crew–related banners or signs popped up at at least 10 of the 11 MLS stadiums hosting Decision Day matches. They have appeared at NFL, NHL, and USL games, and could soon appear overseas. They represent a sentiment that has materialized into public statements from other supporters groups, into vocal opposition to Precourt in other markets, and into widespread support for the resistance. - Source Yahoo Sports

Is This MLS Team Worth Saving?

By Copa90 US | November 3, 2017

When news broke about the Columbus Crew possibly relocating to Austin - supporters around the world took notice. Columbus has been a staple in MLS since Day 1 of the league & the idea that they could be moved on an owner’s whim shook the football world. - COPA90 US Source YouTube

Matt Lampson says he knows “for a fact” the Crew cut their marketing budget

World of Bone podcast, Matt Lampson | November 15, 2017

Audio 34:10 - 34:20 “I actually know for a fact they cut their marketing budget. As they should, if he’s going to move the team then why should he spend money to market here?”​

Audio 34:34 - 34:50 “Ultimately, he [Precourt] lied from the get-go. It’s pretty clear that he is a disingenuous person… But he wants to make money.”​

Audio 35:10 - 35:16 Interviewer (Bone) asks whether Precourt was fully invested in making Columbus work, Lampson says “Absolutely not.”​

Three things: Being happy with 0-0, and sabotage by Precourt

By Andy Edwards | November 21, 2017 How low is Anthony Precourt willing to go in order to sabotage Crew SC, the club he owns and efforts to move to Austin, Tex., without so much as a phony attempt at a non-relocation resolution, and alienate the fans that have supported the franchise since MLS’s debut season in 1996? Tuesday night saw Precourt and Co. up the ante as they intentionally restricted entry (two gates for the entire stadium, causing thousands to miss the game’s opening minutes) into MAPFRE Stadium with the presumed intent of a half-empty venue when the television broadcast kicked off and panned left to right. - Source NBC Sports

Time's a-wasting for MLS to get cracking on to-do list

By Jon Marthaler | December 15, 2017 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. - Source Star Tribune

Viewpoints: Why Austin voters may have the last say in MLS turf deal

By Editorial Board | December 15, 2017 The charter states: “The council shall have no power to, and shall not: Sell, convey, lease, mortgage, or otherwise alienate any land which is now, or shall hereafter be, dedicated for park purposes, unless the qualified voters of the city shall authorize such act by adopting in a general or special election a proposition submitting the question and setting forth the terms and conditions under which such sale, conveyance, lease, mortgage, or other alienation is to be made.” - Source My Statesman

Why Columbus Crew Moving To Austin Must Not Happen, For The Sake Of MLS

By Tom Scholes | February 4, 2018 “But ultimately I feel there are two things to remember with this whole situation. Firstly, it’s the fans that suffer the most from all of this. The original Crew fans from Columbus who have been with this team from 1994 and have experienced highs and lows every single step of the way. They’ve been almost forgotten about in this whole ordeal and their #SaveTheCrew campaign has been fantastic to watch grow and gain more support.” - Source Medium article from Football Italia & These Football Times writer

Goodbye Columbus?

By Brian Everett | February 16, 2018 As I fight to save my team, I find myself encouraged by your story. A story about a community in the south-west of London who refused to be told who their team was or how far they would need to travel to support them. I learned about the founding of Milton Keynes and the rebirth of AFC Wimbledon thanks to the supporters. I read about a team that went from open try-outs on the common all the way to League One in a little over a decade. - Source The Don's Trust, Owner's of AFC Wimbledon a club that replaced another that was controversially moved from Wimbledon to Milton Keynes in 2003

Acrimony F.C.: M.L.S. Teams and Fan Groups Navigate a Rocky Marriage

By Graham Parker | March 2, 2018 The Columbus story in particular highlighted that sense of ownership. When it was revealed on the eve of last season’s playoffs that the team’s owner, Anthony Precourt, was working behind the scenes — with the league’s aid, if not blessing — to move the club to Austin, Tex., Crew fans mutinied. A grass-roots opposition was formed to lobby city and state leaders to keep the team in Ohio, and a hashtag campaign — #SaveTheCrew — quickly spread from social media to banners in other M.L.S. cities, and even in other sports.

The message to Precourt and the league was clear: Columbus fans would not abandon the decades of cultural capital they had expended without a fight. - Source NY Times

Ohio Attorney General sues to prevent Crew relocation

By Nicholas Mendola | March 5, 2018 The good guys and girls could win. Of course every owner is allowed to move a team, but the way Precourt Sports Ventures has conducted itself — from nascent “except for Austin” clauses in its contract to the limiting of entrances at a playoff game to make the stadium look empty at opening kick — has been extremely off-putting. - Source NBC Sports

MLS commissioner Don Garber's 'preference' is for the Crew 'to stay in Columbus'

Jonathan Tannenwald | March 13, 2018 Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber told the Inquirer and Daily News on Tuesday that he hopes for “a solution” that would allow the Columbus Crew to stay in that city, instead of moving to Austin, Texas as owner Anthony Precourt has threatened. - Source Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News

Columbus soccer move deserves English-style resistance

By Jon Marthaler | March 16, 2018 Columbus Crew owner Anthony Precourt is the most hated man in the league right now, because of his harebrained scheme to move his team to Austin, Texas. This is potentially the team’s last season in Columbus. You could imagine Crew fans gathering beneath the owner’s box, as West Ham fans did, to chant at Precourt, “You’ve destroyed our club.” This isn’t the kind of passion that MLS wants to build. The obvious solution is for the league to unequivocally state that the Crew is staying in Columbus, but MLS is currently too caught up in raking in expansion fees to be bothered with the franchise stability of a club that doesn’t make big money. In this case, West Ham-style anger is justified. MLS needs to reverse tack before — as in east London — the situation gets out of hand. - Source Star Tribune

Goodbye, Columbus. You didn’t deserve to be abandoned by the Crew

By Steven Goff | March 26, 2018 Pulling the Crew out of Columbus is a two-footed, studs-up tackle, deserving of a red card and lengthy suspension. Unfortunately, the referee — in this case, league headquarters — is complicit.

...

But Columbus has played an important role in shaping soccer in this country in the past two decades. Aside from hosting the dos-a-cero U.S. victories over Mexico (until, at least, the latest World Cup qualifying cycle), Columbus proved in MLS’s early years that a city off soccer’s demographic radar would take to the sport. This was a big deal because it laid the foundation for the league to enter markets such as Salt Lake City, Orlando, Minneapolis and, coming soon, Nashville. - Washington Post Source Washington Post

A long way from home

By Blogger from America | March 29, 2018 The fans - as you may guess - are rather miffed and some are boycotting matches. So attendances have fallen, giving more ammunition to the owner that he could do better in the Lone Star state. Adding another wrinkle, MLS approved the switch, but could be getting sued if it happens. The nearby city of San Antonio are set to launch their own MLS side and are angry the authorities have given permission for a rival to appear in Austin. - Source Chelsea FC Blog

Columbus Attorney accuses Precourt, MLS of ‘factual misdirection’ in lawsuit

By Evan Weese | April 23, 2018 Anthony Precourt identified himself as “Owner/Chairman” of Crew SC until the league on Friday made its case for dismissing the lawsuit. Precourt’s Twitter profile now reads “Investor/Operator and Chairman.” - Source ProSoccerUSA

2018 MLS Ambition Rankings: Which Clubs Raise the Bar Highest as the League Grows?

By Brian Straus and Grant Wahl | April 23, 2018 23. COLUMBUS CREW (LAST YEAR: 19) - Either Anthony Precourt didn’t have the means, skill or commitment to make the Crew successful in Columbus, or he willfully sandbagged the club in order to justify his desired exit. For the purposes of this ranking, it doesn’t matter—both are a long, long way from ambitious. - Source Sports Illustrated

How three cities are fighting back against the oldest scam in US sports

By Elliott Turner | May 8, 2018 Billionaire owners have for years leveraged the threat of relocation to line their pockets. Here’s how three cities are fighting back against one of the longest-running scams in American sports

Does this story sound familiar: a sports team pleads poverty and gets public funds to build a new stadium. A few years later, that same team changes hands at a massive valuation. A decade or two later, the team gripes about the stadium and leaves town. To the dismay of local fans and politicos, taxpayers are stuck with a tenant-less stadium and a sizable bill. - Source The Guardian

#SaveTheCrew Effort Hits Junior Ranks

By Emily Whitcomb | June 1, 2018 That's despite the fact that the Crew are one of the first clubs in MLS, they made the Cup finals in 2015, and they have a strong fan base. Those fans are organizing to try to persuade Precourt and MLS to understand how important the club is to the fabric of the soccer community. This effort is called #SaveTheCrew.

The Columbus Crew also has a youth soccer development program called Crew Jr.’s that many local children play for. According to a March Columbus Crew SC press release, if the Crew move, the Crew Jr’s program will undergo changes and it will become Sporting Columbus. This will happen for the 2018-2019 youth club season. New uniforms and some new coaches will give the club a different look. The #SaveTheCrew campaign has major implications for this youth soccer program. - Source SI Kids

MLS could lose more than Columbus fans if owners complete Austin relocation

By Daniel Rouse | June 8, 2018 This move would force upheaval or even redundancy on staff - both on and off the pitch - while allowing a city to sneak ahead of others that actually applied for an expansion franchise (and running the risk of provoking similar MLS relocations) and making a mockery of the community ties that have underpinned recent years of Garber's spiel. - Source theScore

FC Cincinnati fans heading to Columbus to “Save the Crew”

By Geoff Redick | June 9 2018 A few dozen fans of Cincinnati’s soccer club are planning a road trip north on Saturday afternoon, to cheer on the Columbus Crew SC against the New York Red Bulls.

The goodwill visit has a second purpose: supporting the “Save the Crew” movement as the team’s ownership explores a move to Austin, Texas next year. FC Cincinnati fans are eager for an Ohio-based rivalry, after their team was awarded a Major League Soccer expansion franchise just last week. - Source WSYX ABC 6

Grumet: Austin’s MLS stadium numbers aren’t as strong as they look

By Bridget Grumet | June 19, 2018 Austin is crunching and weighing all kinds of numbers as Precourt Sports Ventures, which owns the Columbus Crew SC, pushes for a commitment soon on soccer stadium negotiations. Precourt is asking for virtually free use of city-owned land at McKalla Place, where it would build a stadium that would pay no property taxes.

Make no mistake: Very real money is on the line. - Source Statesman