MLS announces expansion to Austin, Texas

This afternoon the official announcement came that MLS is welcoming the 27th club to the league in the form of Austin FC. The new team will begin playing in 2021 and become the third team from the state of Texas, joining the Houston Dynamo and FC Dallas.

Precourt Sports Ventures

Above is a rendering of what the new stadium may look like.

Austin FC has long been the subject of controversy as there have been past rumors of the current Columbus Crew SC being forced to relocate and form this new team. However, the “Save the Crew” campaign paid off with an ownership change late last year as the owners of the NFL’s Cleveland Browns (among others) stepped in to keep the Crew in Columbus, much to the relief of the yellow and gold faithful.

Majority owner of Austin FC, Anthony Precourt, had originally been at the helm of relocating the Crew but has since forfeited his rights to the Columbus Crew. His attention has since been solely focused on starting the Austin FC project from scratch.

Not much else aside from the official team announcement has been released. But with the hard part out of the way, we should see more moves announced soon.