I think that's what they're trying to do with part 7. Basically adding a public vote to each and every step of the process.

Oh, I see that now. I'd love for opponents to calculate the actual cost to the city for having that many public votes.

Good luck - you Indy nuts. This is ludicrous.



**I would hope (and assume) that the McKalla stadium would have its permits in place by May. Especially if they want the stadium completed prior to the 2021 season.

This crazy group has been pretty successful in killing things. Hope they fail on this one.

Heck, their leader doesn't even live in Austin.

Is it possible to garner enough opposition petitions to negate this from even getting to a vote? I would hope there is some mode out there to neutralize lunacy like this.

So how much else would/could this affect? What else is an "entertainment facility"?

Long Center?

Travis County Expo Center?

Could this kill ACL Fest (they lease parkland for weeks at a time)? If nothing else, they're a "beneficiary of City-owned land".

this!

^^^This. Opponents should focus on this, SXSW, and several other events which bring millions into the city and KILL this B.S. movement!!!

Great points on community benefit centers like The Long Center and TCEC!!!

Would this kill "Bevo Blvd?" It's a public street maintained and owned by the COA, correct? What about Pecan Street Festival? Eeyore's Birthday? Farmers markets? All road races including the Cap 10K? The list could be endless.

Wait...this is what every NIMBY wants!

It's also trying to be retroactive. How much city land has been sold off in the history of Austin? What eventually turned into an "entertainment facility".

Every restaurant and bar in Mueller (also Alamo Drafthouse) is formerly city owned land that has become entertainment facilities.

^ I think we should raze Mueller and turn it back into an airport then. That's the only logical step.

IndyAustin was successful once. With a very split council. Let’s not oversell them.

OTOH, everyone should come to Jack & Gingers Saturday and pick up some sweet merch, meet the Austin FC peeps, and maybe listen to comments from a city council member or two about the future of pro soccer in Austin.

Okay...it's been one solid month since the court appearance in OH. What the hell is going on?

Who the heck knows!?!

And this whole time of nothing going on, 10 investors have pledged $10 million a piece towards the Crew. The current consensus in Columbus is the longer it takes for a ruling in this case, the more time Columbus has to continue to add more investors to purchase the Crew and less chance for a move to Austin. Even worse for Austin's chances, if the Crew end up playing out the 2019 season in Columbus. From what I read in many comment boards in Columbus, there is a belief that there is deliberate stalling in place to give investors a chance to purchase the team, but so far very little about the proceedings is being made public as well as the valuation of the Crew itself. MLS wants to be in Austin. If the Crew manages to remain in Columbus, and Austin gets an expansion team, would Precourt and Austin be ok with that?
Personally, I think this may be the year Austin does NOT get an MLS team or Amazon's second HQ. And if that happens, watch the McKalla site remain undeveloped for several more years despite all the noise the local opposition made for better use.
With no end to the silence in sight, time is definately running out for a 2019 season in Austin. That's why I think the odds are drifting away from us.

I would suggest not relying heavily on the Save the Crew people for news. They are a passionate (and rightly) upset fanbase, but there continued prognostication of "investors" and "local buyers" is mostly wishful thinking.

The stall tactics are just that. I mean, what the hell is the Ohio government going to do to force the Crew to remain in Austin? PSV can relocate the operations, tell the players where to show up and start playing games in Austin next year and there is little Ohio can do other than try and force an injunction.

This game of chicken is between a state that *really* doesn't want this law getting to a federal appellate court and PSV/MLS who really need to move quicker than the Ohio courts are allowing.

There is plenty of action going on behind the scenes. Just this week, I attended a pre-proposal conference for design and engineering consultants responding to an RFQ that PSV has issued for the stadium project. PSV and their program managers for the stadium, CAA Icon, are in the midst of moving people permanently to Austin.

Which message boards are you reading? I've seen reddit posts and podcasts that claim a purchase is imminent, but they seem more like wishful thinking from Ohioans than anything else.

There may very well be an investment group that is credible and serious, but unless that group includes at least 1 billionaire, individual pledges of several million would be worthless. The era of small money ownership in MLS is long gone. It's probable that Anthony Precourt himself would not meet the financial standards of the league if he were to try to buy a team today.

Part of me thinks things will start moving after the election in November. After that, less need for Ohio's current "no compromise " posturing.

This is my bet as well.

Yup. They have a bigger footprint every day. The only question is whether play in Austin begins in 2019 or 2020 and the only real factor there is how afraid MLS is of the lawsuit.

MLS to Austin: Stadium negotiations on track for December completion

https://www.statesman.com/sports/201...ber-completion

Good to hear things are moving ahead. The politicking will continue to the very end, sadly, but that's how these things go. Hope there are no more speed bumps!