Crew to Austin in 2019..(Maybe)

We're going to save the Crew. I told everyone I know. My kids said, "We know!" and asked me to stop yelling at dinner.

 

Don't you think that the AG and those investors would be smart enough to put default conditions into any potential settlement?

 

There are two ways the Crew stay in Columbus for next year....

1. The motion to dismiss fails.

2. MLS thinks an 11,000 seat baseball stadium is a bad idea.

Precourt is going to insist on the move. Option 2 is not an option. The league doing that would be a de facto forced sale. He won't be one of the cool kids anymore.

Right now, I'm expecting the league to go all King Solomon on Precourt and Columbus.

 

That was accidental.

 

u wanna fite m8

 

Hello nurse!

 

He wants to "be" an owner. He just doesn't want the job of an owner. He wants to be like Paulson and the guys in KC. Adored and fawned over as a cool guy.

Step 1: Buy undervalued asset and become an owner
Step 2: ???
Step 3: be super popular cool guy like Mark Cuban

He just has no idea what step 2 is. He tried some things here but he never really dug in and did the work. I don't know that he could have every figured out step 2 in Columbus. I don't know that it was intentional sabotage from the beginning. I do know that as the job got harder he became less interested in doing it.

It will be easier in Austin. He'll have a shiny new toy box to play in and offer to VIPs that Crew Stadium never was going to be. We have no way to know if it will turn out for him more like KC and Portland or Houston and Dallas. The fact that Orlando exists because Austin was deemed impossible by its owner makes me think the latter.

Of course I hope he crashes and burns spectacularly. And I hope The Crew are saved in one way or another. Saved at his expense would be ideal.

I am curious about what his long term plans are in Austin though. A team + stadium makes for a big valuation jump even if dept is involved. The free rent for 5 years makes that a window where he could be looking to sell at a huge profit I don't understand how these government grants work that have been mentioned as how part of the stadium costs will be paid for. If anyone knows I'd be curious. Building a $200M with a loan from Chase is one thing, building a stadium with grant money and a smaller loan makes future sales more profitable....

 

I'm more expecting the league to go all French Revolution on Columbus--but maybe that's just me.

 

I was thinking more along the lines of

"What are we going to do tonight?"

The same thing we do every night!"

"Sleep on the couch!"

 

Narf!

 

Precourt is not going anywhere in 2019 if that Motion to Dismiss is denied in September. If that is the case you are looking at a full trial and then a likely appeal from whomever loses (possibly at both the state & federal levels). The Raiders case took years. Multiple.

They may have more ammo on the idea that the suit is causing them harm at this point, but I think that is a big 'so what?' argument. If adhering to a law does one harm, that is not an excuse for non-compliance.

 

Re: an expansion side, my heart says no, but my mind says we need to consider it. The devil's in the details, of course. As Bill notes, not operating a team in Columbus for a year or two makes virtually no sense. Unless your goal is to hamstring the new franchise and try to make it a money loser right out of the gate. Not to mention, I believe that PSV is contractually obligated to the rest of the lease in Mapfre, anyway.

I couldn't care less about the FO; they should all be eradicated anyway. I care about the coaching staff, but only for as long as Berhalter's the coach, and we have to assume that he's going to have other offers at some point. I also care about a core of the players, but understand that rosters undergo a lot of change every year. Steffen could well go to Europe this off season, for instance. I assume Higuain would retire, rather than play in a rinky-dinky baseball stadium in Texas next year.

The big unknown here (well, one of many) is the nature of new ownership in Columbus. If someone comes in and commits to bringing in Schelotto as the new director of soccer operations, I'll wish Gregg et al all the best in Texas. If that happens, and if a new owner is willing to spend money on the franchise, I'd have a lot more faith in our ability to rebuild a competitive roster. Technically, it doesn't have to be Schelotto, but since we're fantasizing...

Assuming we'd all be thrilled with the nature of our new ownership, that person's local connections, connections to the community, and commitment to winning, the real remaining sticking point to embracing an expansion franchise shouldn't be one at all, because the answer is so obvious: do we play here in Mapfre in 2019, or not?

 

Not enough Swenson's...

 

on the expansion front...... The ONLY way I support a Columbus expansion side is if they begin play in 2019. If there is a gap, I'm done. While I'm willing to overlook (not forgive or forget) how the league has treated us thus far, I can not support a league that allows us to stop and come back in a few years when our new stadium is ready.

I've played soccer for the better part of 40 years. Like many of you, I've been around since the earliest Crew years. There is too much other soccer available for my consumer attention if MLS shits on us like that.

 

Shoot... MLS 1.0 didn't even do it this bad did they?

But more importantly, how many of the original MLS 10... errrr..... 8.... still play in the stadium they opened in back in 1996?

 

If the expansion route is how this plays out...I can't see a scenario where Columbus fields a side in 2019. After all the litigation and such plays out I would have to believe that there simply won't be enough time to get things rolling on a brand new team (even if they play in Mapfre...also remember asshat still owns the structure there). Remember this isn't like we have a USL team sitting there ready to "promote" up to MLS.

 

Reference my previous post on the Austin/Columbus double switch:

From the league's standpoint, they may feel they have no choice:

First, Queso Tony, may he rot in Hell, has had Suttle leaning on the City - hard - on the theory that they had to act immediately in order to start play in 2019. It was a lie, of course - San Jose-to-Houston in 2008 was decided and announced on December 15 and they started play three months later - but they did say it.

So can they really go back now and tell them they aren't really going to start play until 2021? Hardly. Even that crook Adler would choke on that one.

But can you really build an organization from scratch by opening day 2019? It would be next to impossible, even if PSV wasnt run by incompetent morons.

So if the league feels they absolutely have to put a team in Austin in 2019, then the Crew is pretty much their only choice.

Secondly, if you give Austin an expansion team, it's an incredible insult to all the cities who have been jumping through hoops to get one. It might even draw a lawsuit: a city which didn't even apply for an expansion team gets one handed to them without meeting even ONE of the requirements MLS says you must have: downtown stadium, local owner, history of soccer support.

But you CAN justify giving one to Columbus on any number of reasons. They can probably even sell not even calling it an expansion team. They're good at coming up with new and exotic terms for stuff they want to do; they might even claim that there's "always been" a clause in the league bylaws which allows for, I dunno, "special replacement teams" or some such rot.

We've all seen them sell shakier deals with a straight face.

 

The lawsuit is the only leverage pushing back against Precourt.

That is, aside from the league turning down McKalla for the reasons everyone has been discussing. That would be a hell of a rebuke.

Whats amazing is how wide spread hatred of the MK Dons is. I mean a fourth teir English team globally hated. That should be what Austin has to look forward to. With any luck, maybe they will be lucky to get an international team come for summer friendly.

 

That's a great big nope on that one partner. Suttle himself said in the ATX council meetings that the lawsuit has no bearing or affect with what goes on in Austin.

 

None. Last was DC, last year. While the Revs still are in a football stadium, their current one replaced the old one in 2002.

 

No,Beau Dure is.

 

Public funding.
If MLS can make cities bow before,them,Don won't get laughed at when he and Adam and Roger and Rob go out for drinks.And they wont even invite Gary!

 

Called the director of fan relations for Real Salt Lake today to tell him that I can't continue to support RSL and will not renew my season tickets if the Crew are moved and that I will take everyone I can with me unless our team's owner publicly supports #SaveTheCrew

— Isaac Thatcher (@ThatchSilver) August 17, 2018

Supporters support supporters.

 

I'm not sure we can take such a hard line stance. If after the litigation dust settles and the only option we have is to take an expansion team or nothing. I'll take the expansion team.

For Me:

Option #1 - Crew sold to local investors, and continue to play. Austin/Precourt can do whatever.

Option #2 - Litigate like crap, and if we lose, begrudgingly accept #1 on the expansion list.

Option #3 - Go Nuclear (NU-clear, there is no extra "U") and have no team or association with MLS.