Columbus may be an "expansion" team as a business, but the on-field team is continuous, with the same group of players, same coaching staff, uniforms, branding, etc. Precourt took his "business" to Austin, but whatever the team they come up with -- players, coaches, branding, etc. is all new, created from scratch. The Crew are only an expansion team to the accountants.
MLS is single-entity so your question is moot. I don't need to call anything expansion or not, point is Austin is being treated as the expansion while Columbus continues to play. If the league needed to define it one way or another for whatever reason, that's fine, but there has not been a break in play in Columbus while Austin has yet to do anything but lie about their ticket sales.
Moot? Since my question is moot this means you or I can just own a team since it's single entity then. Fact: New Crew ownership paid an expansion fee. Fact: If there was a place for Austin FC to play right now, The Crew would be the team on hiatus. Fact: Precourt relocated his Columbus Franchise rights to Austin Fact: MLS sold Expansion rights to Edwards & Haslam for $150M. Part of that deal was that current branding, coaches, and players would remain in Columbus. The rest of that iteration of the organization went to Austin with PSV.
You must have more cash laying around than I do. Single entity means the league owns all the teams, thus the "investor/operator" moniker. Haslem/Edwards paid the league money and the league awarded Austin a jackass failure to run a team. How they define the transaction has not only not been released publicly, but was definitely done with tax implications in mind. Nope. No chance. You can pipe dream that all you want, but there is just no chance. Show me the wording in the agreement that says that. You can't, because it's not true. Precourt transferred his ownership rights to a MLS franchise, not specifically the Crew. In your opinion, what did the above in bold amount to? Be careful, I am friends with people in the FO and know for sure what was moved, so any half-ass opinion will be refuted. In the end it doesn't matter, we have actual wealthy owners, a competent FO and are signing players with multi-million dollar transfer fees. Season starts soon and things are bright in Columbus.
NOT that it matters to you: https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikeoz...le-price-said-to-be-150-million/#4a2327026326 "As part of the deal, current operator and chairman Anthony Precourt, who announced nearly a year ago that he intended to move the team to Austin, Texas, will get his wish. Although the new Crew owners are paying an "expansion fee" of $150 million, according to my source, they get the team in its current form. Precourt, who will not pay a fee, effectively gets an expansion team in that he needs to build a new franchise." We're done here. No need to split hairs.
"Encino Man is a steaming pile of crap that should have been rejected before production even started. The only way it could be considered a lot of fun is if you are braindead, wasted on weed, or have the maturity level of a small child."
Columbus built the first SSS in the country. They'll now be the first city to build it's second one. Debate all you want about the expansion bid... that doesn't change.
Columbus built the first MLS sized SSS from scratch in the country. It was not the first SSS (from scratch), and I would contend that the Fusion played in the first MLS SSS - though it was a retrofit (If you count Portland's stadium as an SSS, you should count old Lockhart, too).
Actually I don't think a returned Sonics will claim anything from OKC. However they've made it very explicit that if (when!) the Sonics return they're claiming everything from the previous Sonics teams, including the trophies and banners. There was a sunset clause on the actual legal documentation around that which has long since passed, but I can't see anyone being dumb enough to stand in the way of them doing it. Especially when you have legends like Kemp and Payton refusing to have anything to do with the OKC team, stating that they'll be honored by the organization only when and in the Sonics return to Seattle.
Austin is clearly the expansion team. They'll be the ones having an expansion draft at the end of this season. MLS is simply avoiding the truth on that point for tax reasons. Precourt remains an MLS shareholder/investor even though he isn't fielding a team this year.
Not sure about a sunset clause, but last I heard all the Sonics memoriabilia is at MOHAI. I also remember there being something about OKC and any Seattle team called the Sonics having a shared history up to the relocation. But, I guess we’ll find out if/when the Sonics return.
Ah, they may have already given up on the sunset clause idea then. Originally it was some set time (5 years?) that Seattle would keep the rights to the original banners, trophies, etc.
Somehow, referencing the Cleveland Browns would have been something the Columbus folks could relate to.
The difference is that the Crew never had a ceasing of operations in Columbus, so however the ownership paperwork was handled, the club has remained a continuous entity in all ways that are relevant to the fans.
Jack Sikma finally got in the HOF this last time. Gus Williams. Lonnie Shelton. Downtown Freddie Brown. There are some more Sonic legends, with a 'chip to boot.
All this expansion crap is nonsense. If the Crew are the expansion team, when do we get an expansion draft, the #1 pick in the Superdraft, and top of the allocation order? What? Austin gets that next year, you say. I rest my case.
So the Crew carry the important distinction of having to pay an expansion fee for the privilege of competing in the 2019 season and beyond. Proud company, to be sure.
Whatever price the new owners paid, how is that different from the price Precourt paid? Is every team that gets new owners considered expansion?