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The Columbus Crew bid for the Ohio capital has taken a significant step as a group of investors including the Haslam family – owners of the NFL's Cleveland Browns – and the Columbus-based Edwards family has begun negotiations with MLS to buy the team.
MLS, Columbus Partnership and the proposed investor group announced the news in a joint statement.
"Major League Soccer and the Columbus Partnership have been working together for several months on a plan to keep the crew in Columbus and we have made significant progress," MLS said in a statement. "MLS, Columbus Partnership and the group of investors all agree that for the club to be successful, it requires powerful local owners, long-term support from the company, a ticket base season and long-term plans for a stadium, training facilities and associated activities MLS is committed to keeping the crew in Columbus if we continue to progress on these critical components and to accept the conditions key with the investor group. "
A team purchase agreement has not yet been finalized, but the process is long enough to be made public by the group of investors.
In a joint statement, the Columbus Partnership, Jimmy Haslam, and Dr. Pete Edwards, Crew Team Physician, said: "While many details remain to be resolved, our alliance is working diligently and in collaboration with [MLS] keep the crew in his community. We are very excited about the unobtrusive but deliberate progress that has been made to date and will keep you informed of the community's evolution as the process progresses. "
Alex Fischer, CEO of Columbus Partnership, added: "I am encouraged by MLS's willingness to work with us over the past few months, and I appreciate Commissioner Garber's personal involvement in the Columbus, Haslams partnerships. and Edwards Having community-minded homeowners ready to buy the team is an important step forward in achieving our goal of keeping Crew SC in Columbus. "
An informed source of the situation indicated that the group of investors was considering buying a stake in the league in which he acquired the rights to the Crew. Current owner Anthony Precourt, meanwhile, will transfer his rights to Austin. The source added that the goal of the new investor group is to keep existing crew, technical and front-office personnel in Columbus. The source would not disclose how much the investor group would have to pay to acquire ownership rights on the Crew, but only that the talks were at an advanced stage.
"There is a lot of work to be done, but the people involved would not have made this announcement if no significant progress had been made," the source said.
Rumors about Haslam involvement began circulating Friday morning as supporters of the team began to gather at a local brewery. The Save The Crew fan group posted an image on its Twitter and Instagram accounts stating "Saved The Crew", clearly suggesting that the campaign to keep the team in Columbus had paid off.
We all did that. Together.#SaveTheCrew #SavedTheCrew pic.twitter.com/JB0VoIkboT
– Save the team (@Save_The_Crew) October 12, 2018
It was last year that Precourt announced for the first time its intention to engage in a parallel process allowing it to relocate the team to Austin or retain it in Columbus, regardless of which city agreed to help him build a stadium. From the beginning, Precourt seemed to want to move the team to Texas and Austin City Council agreed in August to a list of conditions that would build a $ 200 million stadium and 20,000 seats at McKalla Place.
However, Precourt Sports Ventures' efforts to transfer the team to Austin were mired in court proceedings. The Ohio Attorney General's Office, Mike DeWine, in collaboration with the City of Columbus, is suing PSV under the so-called Modell law, which states that sports teams that have received state funding must give six months' notice of their intention to acquire the team. If the transaction with the new investor group is concluded, there would be no underlying claim and the litigation would cease.
MLS, for its part, continues to support Precourt's efforts to set up an MLS team in Austin, with the league release setting a start date for the club that will start no later than the 2021 season.
"MLS also remains very committed to PSV's plan to create an MLS club in Austin and is eager to see Austin become a great asset to MLS," the league said in a statement. "We will continue to work with PSV and the city of Austin on the launch schedule for this club."
Once Precourt made his intentions clear, the hustle and bustle of the fans was vehement. The team's fans helped mobilize efforts to keep the team in Columbus, raising social media awareness through the #SaveTheCrew hashtag and helping to educate the public about the difficult situation in the city. l & # 39; team.
But throughout 2018, MLS and the Columbus partnership have quietly worked to find ways to stay in Columbus. The source said the MLS thought they could succeed in Columbus, but not as things were happening.
The source said the effort did not involve litigation or "public tumult," but that MLS "needed to change the dynamic, especially with regard to a new stadium, support from the business community, participation local owners. " the central point. What will it take to make it successful? Everything else would fall from there. "
Finally, the Haslam and Edwards were integrated, giving the effort needed to acquire the team that had the financial burden to keep the team in Columbus, but also to build a stadium downtown.
The news promises to be a day of celebration for fans of the team, who have never given up their mission to keep their team in Columbus.
Save The Crew spokesman Dave Miller recalled that the day Precourt announced his announcement, he was "devastated" by the news. The announcement of Friday equates to a 180 degree turn.
"Today's feeling is simply overwhelming," he said by phone. "I'm so excited that the league realized that the best, easiest way was to keep the Columbus team, we proved that our community is strong and that an original team from MLS deserves to stay strong for decades Save The Crew is thrilled to be working with the Haslam family and the Edwards family to ensure the success of this franchise for decades. "
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