It’s a rough week for American soccer fans. Especially if you’re from central Ohio.
Sports Illustrated reported Monday night that the Columbus Crew is planning to relocate to Austin, Texas, in 2019 if the club can’t secure a new stadium in the downtown area by next year.
“This Club has ambition to be a standard bearer in MLS,” club owner Anthony Precourt said in a statement Monday. “Therefore we have no choice but to expand and explore all of our options.”
Unsurprisingly, this came as a gut punch to Crew fans, who were stunned by the announcement from one of the original MLS clubs.
Here’s how some reacted on Twitter:
As a soccer fan who wants nothing more than the sport to take off in America, here’s my take: for soccer to succeed, teams need to be in the right market. So far, the MLS has done a very good job, as evidenced by Atlanta, a southern city who has embraced their new team.
However, the MLS needs to have some sense of loyalty. Unlike Austin, Columbus isn’t a sexy or trendy city. But, they need to realize that the club is a part of the city’s fabric. Dangling the threat of relocation over their fans is unfair to them. It’ll be difficult to secure a new downtown in a year is a near impossible task.
Hopefully, for Crew supporters, they can rally and push the ownership and the league to keep the club where they belong.
