The Austin City Council voted 7-4 to "strike a deal" with Crew owner Precourt Sports Ventures to privately finance and build a $200M, 20,000-seat MLS stadium at the McKalla Place site in exchange for the city-owned land, according to a front-page piece by Lyttle, Jankowski & Bils of the AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN. PSV aims to "move the team to Austin" for the '19 season and "play in a temporary home" for two years while the stadium is built. However, Crew Chair Anthony Precourt and MLS are "ensnarled in lawsuits in Ohio," and Precourt "doesn't know when he'll be able to officially announce the move." The Crew now need a "place to play" in '19, a "training facility, a name, uniform and colors." PSV officials said that the "short list of temporary game-day sites" includes Univ. of Texas facilities, Dell Diamond (home of the Triple-A PCL Round Rock Express) and Texas State's Bobcat Stadium in San Marcos. Late-game bartering by Austin city council members opposed to the deal "added at least" $7M to the PSV tab. Austin Mayor Steve Adler said he is "a little concerned about some of the financial amendments tacked on" to the deal. Activist Linda Curtis, who is against the stadium, said that her group will "begin efforts to force an election on the MLS stadium." Curtis said that it is "too late to force a soccer referendum" on November's ballot, and she is "targeting May" (AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 8/16). ESPN.com's Jeff Carlisle noted PSV and the Austin City Council recently agreed on a "non-relocation clause" that would require PSV to pay $1M for each year remaining on the lease "should the team move from Austin." An amendment to "increase the rent" from $550,000 to $958,720 per year was "defeated" (ESPN.com, 8/15).
EXTRA TIME: In Columbus, Andrew Erickson in a front-page piece notes though the term sheet is "not a legally binding document, it outlines the major, agreed-to-details of a lease and could serve as a route to a final lease and development agreement." It is now up to Austin officials and PSV to "come up with that final agreement." Yesterday's vote came as "parties interested in purchasing the team in Columbus continue to organize and engage MLS." Those parties include Columbus Partnership CEO Alex Fischer, who is "under a nondisclosure agreement and participating in a valuation" of the Crew. Fischer has said that Columbus investors are "interested only in purchasing the current iteration of the team as opposed to alternatives once the team leaves" (COLUMBUS DISPATCH, 8/16).
KEEP AUSTIN WEIRD: In Austin, Kirk Bohls writes the city "became a little more big-time" with the vote. But there is still "lots of work" to be done, including a name and temporary stadium. Bohls is betting on Dell Diamond as a stadium home because UT AD Chris Del Conte has said he has had "no discussions" with PSV beyond hypotheticals. Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium is also about to "undergo a south end zone facelift" starting next June, and Myers Stadium hosts the NCAA track championships in June of '19 and '20. There are also some "legal issues pending." But the MLS office could "go a long way toward resolving those by telling Columbus if it mobilizes for a new stadium and comes up with a new local ownership group," MLS will "put that city on top of the list for the next expansion wave" (AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 8/16).
