Attorneys for Crew Owner Precourt Sports Ventures and the city of Austin are "rolling along in turning the term sheet" the Austin City Council approved last month into a "full-fledged contract" that will result in an MLS stadium at the McKalla Place site, according to Kevin Lyttle of the AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN. Austin-based attorney Richard Suttle, who works for PSV, said, "We hope it can all be wrapped up by early October." Suttle did not have any "updates on a temporary two-year facility" where the Crew could play while the stadium is being built. Suttle did say that conversations are "taking place with possible partners." PSV has "cast a wide net for a training complex, which is believed to include private property" (MYSTATESMAN.com, 9/7).
IN THE DARK: In Columbus, Andrew Erickson reported several current and former Crew employees "detailed a work environment" that has "struggled with low morale, few answers and outside accusations that their silence is indicative of being complicit with relocation efforts." One former employee said that working for the Crew was a "dream job," but that it "became complicated" after the announcement of the team's intent to move to Austin. Multiple current and former employees said that the "bulk of the staff's information" on the potential move "has been delivered via Twitter updates and media reports." One former employee: "Any communication internally was always, it's business as usual, business as usual, business as usual." Crew President of Business Operations Andy Loughnane "delivered that message" in August after Crew employees "learned of PSV's 'Austin FC' branding for its potential Austin team at the same time as the general public." Loughnane said that it is "difficult to provide a comforting response" to a question that has "no known answer." Loughnane said, "It's very understandable that each of us on staff look forward to a swift conclusion in the near term. The strength and resolve of our colleagues has been both commendable and remarkable during a period where questions with no known answers remain unanswerable, and during a period where staff are subjected to unwarranted harassment and false accusations." Several of the current and former Crew staffers said Crew Chair Anthony Precourt has not "addressed the full Crew front office in person since October," but that he has addressed front-office staff in the form of "written communication sent to employees" (COLUMBUS DISPATCH, 9/9).
