11/23/2023 0 Comments Columbus crew![]() ![]() “With major sport ownership, local is always best. Miller is optimistic that the local ownership group coming in will launch a new era for the Crew. In the meantime, it was a precarious season for Crew fans who had to decide whether to continue to support their team – and thereby give money to an owner looking to move the team – or to pull back and potentially give credence to claims that Columbus lagged behind the rest of the league in its “business metrics”, and was therefore vulnerable to a move. With the announcement last week, the suit has now been dropped. With the suit looming, the threat of legal issues pressured all parties to find a solution. MLS and Precourt’s initial attempts to have the case thrown out failed. Written after the relocation of the original Cleveland Browns franchise to Baltimore, and named after the owner responsible, the never before tested law prohibits an owner of team who uses tax-supported facilities and accepts financial assistance from the state from moving unless they give six months’ notice and give individuals who live in the area an opportunity to buy the team. Once they found the backing of several Ohio politicians, they leveraged a law unique to the state, the Art Modell Law, to sue MLS and Precourt to keep the team in Columbus. “The message kind of spread like wildfire … people reached out across the globe.” “There were Save the Crew banners and flags all across the international soccer community,” says Miller. ![]() When they built up enough support in Columbus, they began pressing officials on city, county and state levels to join them. Their methods included organizing rallies to draw national attention, bringing signs to the popular College Gameday program on ESPN and attending council meetings. That built our name recognition, that built our ability to get the meetings that we wanted.” He adds: “We wanted to make a bunch of noise and do it strategically. Miller says the group approached the problem like they were running a “political campaign”. “It basically started in a large table in the back room at a bar with a bunch of supporters’ group leaders coming together and saying that … they were depressed and then they decided that they needed to put up a fight.” Speaking with the Guardian, David Miller, the communications director of Save the Crew said that the movement began in the most traditional of settings. However fans on the ground in Columbus helped turn outrage over the move into concrete action. Much older teams from larger cities in more established leagues have fallen victim to moves in recent years. The initial outlook for the Crew looked grim. What initially began as a simple hashtag within the MLS community, #SavetheCrew, became a force in the fight against relocation. While recent months were dominated by rumors over which millionaire or billionaire owner would swoop in to save Crew, the movement to keep the team in Columbus had far more modest beginnings. “Throughout our conversation, it’s been overwhelmingly clear that Crew SC belongs in Columbus, and we are thrilled to have reached an agreement in principle to assume an ownership position in Major League Soccer and to operate Columbus Crew SC.” Also notable is the approval of funds for a new stadium in downtown Columbus, while former Crew owner Anthony Precourt will retain the rights for an expansion team in Austin Both families are established names in Ohio sports: the Haslams own the NFL’s Cleveland Browns while Pete Edwards, the owner of a medical practice in Columbus, has also served as Crew’s team doctor. “We are extremely grateful for the efforts of the Columbus community as well as Crew SC fans, to help us efficiently complete and fulfill the requirements and deadlines set,” read a statement from the Haslam and Edwards families. Major League Soccer announced last week that a tentative agreement had been reached with the Haslam and Edwards families to purchase the Crew with the intent of keeping the team in Columbus, Ohio. When Columbus Crew fans were making their wish for 2018 there was a simple dream: that their team would stay in their city and not move 1,000 miles south to Austin, Texas.
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