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Garber: Talks ‘ongoing’ over Crew future

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The Columbus Crew’s future remains a major talking point even halfway through the MLS season, and that future apparently remains very uncertain.

MLS Commissioner Don Garber says that talks with the city of Columbus “are ongoing” regarding the Crew’s potential relocation to Austin. The Austin City Council has scheduled a vote for Aug. 9 as the city will decide whether to accept a deal to build a privately financed, $200 million stadium.

“[MLS Deputy Commissioner Mark Abbott has] met with the city to talk about what we might do together should the Crew leave Columbus,” Garber said, according to ESPN. “Those conversations are ongoing. I’m hopeful that we’ll come up with a resolution that’s going to be good for the city, good for ownership, good for the Crew and good for the fans.”

“You’ve heard me say many times, moving a team is never something that any league wants to do,” he added. “We are where we are, and we’ve accepted the fact that we have real challenges there, and we’re going to try and come up with an alternative that ultimately long term is going to be the best one for MLS.”

The Crew return to action on Aug. 11 against the Houston Dynamo.

Comments

  1. Here is the best solution and probably how it would go down for MLS to tell two-faced Tony:
    You need to sell the team to the Columbus group. And we’ll give you a new MLS franchise in Austin for a reduced rate. This way all involved are happy and we can save face. Then let’s discuss where you want to move this team to in 7 years cause we know Austin won’t support a team.

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    • I am unclear why a discounted rate would be offered, making it full free market competition when Columbus needs money from the city and then subsidized when Austin, who is trying to steal Columbus’s team, wants a team ?

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  2. it’s not the columbus fan’s fault. and it’s not berhalter’s fault. why aren’t the columbus city council voting on whether to build an mls stadium in columbus? i think that isn’t mls’s fault. maybe the city of columbus just doesn’t value the crew? actually, with fc cincy already in place, this whole conversation about columbus is starting to be – what’s the word? – “too little and too late”, isn’t it?

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    • after the mls franchise is transferred to austin, old crew stadium will make a fine home for a second division usl team. it won’t create a lot of downtown traffic. the columbus city council will probably mostly like it. the fans will probably mostly like it after they get used to the poor first touch and poor finishing in the second division games. and first division games won’t be very far away in cincy. life will go on in columbus as life always does.

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      • This is a gross misunderstanding of the fanbase in Columbus.
        “Fans will mostly like it” No, fans here are not for corporate relegation.
        “First division games won’t be far away in Cinci” majority of Columbus fans will never support FCC.
        “Life will go on in Columbus as life always does” Life will change forever for a ton of Crew fans, including myself, life in Columbus would look much much different.

    • Garber’s premise of the city not providing the opportunity for a new stadium is false to begin with. As is his valuation of corporate support.
      .
      Precourt never embedded himself in the Columbus business community because he knew he wasn’t staying. His commitment to getting corporate support amounted to sending out forms asking for money. Of course nobody is going to get behind something that shallow.
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      As for the stadium, they provided multiple potential sites to PSV over the years. Again, Precourt didn’t care because he was never going to stay.
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      SKC proved that you can have success with an owner who is actually vested in the city. It was another Hunt owned team that was struggling because the Hunt’s were stretched too thin. Now it is completely transformed.
      .
      MLS would be stupid to throw away the groundswell and fan driven momentum of #SaveTheCrew. They just passed 10k pledges for tickets under new owners – the same amount that got them the charter position in the league to begin with. MLS has been trying for decades to get that type of ‘authentic’ support.

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    • thanks matt and silverrey. i don’t really think that the columbus fans will like corporate relegation. maybe i just wanted to see if you guys were listening?

      oh yes, you know i kind of forgot. so the new owner got that austin secret relocation clause put into the new contract, yes? and then he made fake attempts to talk to deal with columbus city but all along it was his true desire to move the team to austin, yes? (kind of like fifa pretending NOT to be giving the 2026 bid to usa/mex/canada by putting up strawman morocco, yes)

      i’m remembering something. didn’t the city of columbus sue either precourt or mls over this issue?

      and didn’t the columbus City counsel complain publicly that the mls/precourt meetings were frustrating, their every attempt was rejected?

      and then we all were saying “the fix is in.” yes?

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    • i want to apologize for saying maybe it is columbus’s fault, i forgot about the other aspects. yes, the fix was in all along, i had quite forgotten.

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    • The gig in sports is hold cities for ransom for money. MLS is playing the game. It isn’t right.

      MY SuperSonics still play in Oklahoma.

      Reply

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