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I got an alert saying some sort of next step in season tickets was supposed to be happening soon (I put down some nominal deposit months ago)...but I haven't seen any other correspondence?  anybody know what's what?  

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I got an alert saying some sort of next step in season tickets was supposed to be happening soon (I put down some nominal deposit months ago)...but I haven't seen any other correspondence?  anybody know what's what?  


Those that did the club deposit ($100) are doing club seat season tickets over the next month or so. After that, the general admission deposits ($50) will start in the order they were time stamped. No exact date for either was given.
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  • 2 weeks later...

As it builds city's first major-league sports club, Austin FC has overcome many challenges — including our weird vibe 

By Bill King – Sports Business Journal

 

Interesting Tidbits:

-Broken ground on a $45 million training facility, titled by St. David’s HealthCare.

-Locked down a soon-to-be announced jersey sponsorship with a young, Austin-based company that a source said will rank in the top tier of MLS, which would place it north of $4 million annually.

-Turned down what Loughnane called an “extremely generous” 10-year, $35 million stadium naming-rights offer that would rank in the league’s top 10, confident that the market will yield an even higher price.

 

Quote

 

The 360-degree, theater-in-the-round presentation that greets prospective season-ticket buyers at the offices of Austin FC includes the requisite images of a city proud of its richly textured identity: A familiar skyline, statues of music icons Stevie Ray Vaughan and Willie Nelson, and a 500-year-old oak tree steeped in Texas lore.

As the clip draws to its close, the unmistakable voice of one of Austin’s more prominent celebrity residents, Oscar-winnng actor Matthew McConaughey, sets an emotional hook.

“We celebrate together, sing together, bleed bright verde together,” says McConaughey, one of six Austin locals who own minority stakes in the MLS expansion franchise. “And in the spring of 2021, it will be ours, right here, in Austin.

Seated at a long conference table one day last fall, majority owner Anthony Precourt and two of his senior executives — team president Andy Loughnaneand Dave Greeley, president of parent company Two Oak Ventures — ticked off one business win after another in support of that very contention.

One year after landing the club and one year away from playing its first MLS match, Austin FC has collected upward of 39,000 deposits of $50 to $2,000 for season seats in an under-construction stadium that will hold 20,500. All 27 of its suites are leased, at prices expected to set new highs for the league. Loge boxes topping out at more than $40,000 annually also are spoken for, with twice as many deposits collected as there are boxes. About 400 premium field-level seats priced similarly to some NBA courtside seats also are gone.

 

They’ve broken ground on a $45 million training facility, titled by St. David’s HealthCare. And they’ve locked down a soon-to-be announced jersey sponsorship with a young, Austin-based company that a source said will rank in the top tier of MLS, which would place it north of $4 million annually.

They’ve even turned down what Loughnane called an “extremely generous” 10-year, $35 million stadium naming-rights offer that would rank in the league’s top 10, confident that the market will yield an even higher price.

The significance of this jackrabbit start is not lost on Precourt. He had endured six trying seasons as owner of the Columbus Crew, which had fallen far behind the revenue pace of other clubs by the time he sold it in an MLS-arranged deal in 2018, partly in exchange for an expansion team in Austin.

In Austin, Precourt sees a market poised to deliver at levels Columbus never approached. The St. David’s HealthCare deal, for instance, delivers more contractually obligated income than Columbus could count on from its stadium, training facility, jersey and suite deals combined. 

“We aspire to be a successful team on the field and off the field, and part of being a successful team off the field is being in the top quartile — if not the top one, two, three — in the way of key business metrics,” said Precourt, who stressed that balancing that with a sizable swath of more affordable seats would be crucial if the club is to be broadly embraced in Austin. “And we’re in that direction. The trajectory is strong for us.”

Market dynamics

With a metro population of 2.23 million, Austin already is larger than 14 major pro sports markets, including two — Cleveland and Kansas City — that have three teams and eight that have two. Authentically hip and terminally cool, it’s been the nation’s fastest growing major metro area for each of the past eight years, with demos to die for, particularly considering the flavor profile of the suddenly trendy MLS. Austin is a magnet for young, well-educated talent and the tech companies hoping to hire them. Along with the largest percentage of millennials of any major U.S. market (20.6%), it is 35% Hispanic, with both shares expected to continue increasing.

Austin is 80 miles from the nearest NBA team (the San Antonio Spurs), 165 miles from the nearest NFL or MLB team (the Houston Texans and Astros, respectively) and 195 miles from the nearest NHL team (the Dallas Stars). And yet few would have pegged it as a sure thing.

For all its growth, Austin is the nation’s 40th-ranked TV market, which will make it the smallest in MLS and sixth smallest in major pro sports, ahead of only Jacksonville, Oklahoma City, New Orleans, Memphis, Buffalo and Green Bay. Yes, it has a well-paid millennial work force, but its metro area is home to only two Fortune 500 companies, Dell and Whole Foods, a concern for those charged with selling sponsorships and suites.

And then there is the 10-gallon shadow cast by the University of Texas, which with revenue of $219 million in 2018 maintained its standing as the nation’s highest grossing college athletic program. A football team that draws 97,000 fans per game and a basketball team set to move into a new $330 million arena in 2022 may not be pro, but they’re certainly major.

 

 

 

Edited by Pasken
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This part must infuriate all the Austin haters from Columbus.

Quote

They’ve broken ground on a $45 million training facility, titled by St. David’s HealthCare. And they’ve locked down a soon-to-be announced jersey sponsorship with a young, Austin-based company that a source said will rank in the top tier of MLS, which would place it north of $4 million annually.

The significance of this jackrabbit start is not lost on Precourt. He had endured six trying seasons as owner of the Columbus Crew, which had fallen far behind the revenue pace of other clubs by the time he sold it in an MLS-arranged deal in 2018, partly in exchange for an expansion team in Austin.

In Austin, Precourt sees a market poised to deliver at levels Columbus never approached. The St. David’s HealthCare deal, for instance, delivers more contractually obligated income than Columbus could count on from its stadium, training facility, jersey and suite deals combined

Edited by Somnio
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On 2/5/2020 at 4:29 PM, Somnio said:

Holy shit, I can't imagine things could be going any better!  Those are some impressive bits of information.

Imagine a downtown stadium.  That said, traffic really shouldn't be much of an issue under the current MLS scheduling since almost every game is on the weekend.  

The training facility should be one of the best in the league based on the plans alone, although those academy players who don't live in north Austin are going to be living in their car.  

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It will be interesting to see where Precourt places FC Austin within the MLS payroll bands.

In 2019, there were roughly four payroll groups.  I have listed their 2019 Supporters Shield ranking in (X) after the team name.

Tier 1 ($14.4 million - $22.2 million): Toronto (9), Galaxy (8), Chicago (17), LAFC (1)

Tier 2 ($11.5 million - $13.0 million): Kansas City (21), Seattle (4), Atlanta (3), Montreal (18), Portland (11), Orlando (22) 

Tier 3 ($10.1 million - $10.9 million) Columbus (20), D.C. (10), SLC (6), Cincinnati (24), NYCFC (2) 

Tier 4 ($7.2 million - $9.1. million): Philadelphia (5), San Jose (15), Minnesota (7), Colorado (16), New England (14), Dallas (13), NYRB (12), Houston (19), Vancouver (23)

I imagine that Precourt envisions Austin as ultimately settling in Tier 2, which includes some of the most successful teams in the league but also Montreal and Orlando.      

 

Edited by alincoln
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2 hours ago, alincoln said:

Imagine a downtown stadium.  That said, traffic really shouldn't be much of an issue under the current MLS scheduling since almost every game is on the weekend.  

The training facility should be one of the best in the league based on the plans alone, although those academy players who don't live in north Austin are going to be living in their car.  

I know!  Butler Shores with the skyline and river views would have been incredible.

But with the Domain area really starting to become a true "Uptown" I think they ended up in a pretty good location.  I think having all the breweries right next door is a big plus as well.  And when they build the new stadium rail station it'll be a cool thing for a lot of fans riding the train to the stadium on game days.

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I know!  Butler Shores with the skyline and river views would have been incredible.
But with the Domain area really starting to become a true "Uptown" I think they ended up in a pretty good location.  I think having all the breweries right next door is a big plus as well.  And when they build the new stadium rail station it'll be a cool thing for a lot of fans riding the train to the stadium on game days.
There were several factors but the one I would have never guessed was the domain being the weighted geographical center of Austin
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5 hours ago, Somnio said:

I know!  Butler Shores with the skyline and river views would have been incredible.

But with the Domain area really starting to become a true "Uptown" I think they ended up in a pretty good location.  I think having all the breweries right next door is a big plus as well.  And when they build the new stadium rail station it'll be a cool thing for a lot of fans riding the train to the stadium on game days.

I think some of those breweries will end up going once real estate costs go up in the area. What I would really love is a pedestrian path over the tracks so we could have a kickass March to the stadium from Oskar Blues or 4th Tap.

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Got give Yeti credit, that's a damn clever idea.  is there still some way to get beers from down below though? 

I can only assume Yeti will now have a store/bar up in the Domain near the Stadium?  some enterprising CRE broker may want to get on that.  Now.  

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On 2/7/2020 at 3:22 PM, Somnio said:

I know!  Butler Shores with the skyline and river views would have been incredible.

But with the Domain area really starting to become a true "Uptown" I think they ended up in a pretty good location.  I think having all the breweries right next door is a big plus as well.  And when they build the new stadium rail station it'll be a cool thing for a lot of fans riding the train to the stadium on game days.


Ditto on all of that.

 

On 2/7/2020 at 8:47 PM, skittlebrau said:

I’m pretty sure it’s jersey sponsor. And not Indeed.


Indeed is the jersey sponsor for Eintracht Frankfurt.

52150574_303.jpg

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I know!  Butler Shores with the skyline and river views would have been incredible.
But with the Domain area really starting to become a true "Uptown" I think they ended up in a pretty good location.  I think having all the breweries right next door is a big plus as well.  And when they build the new stadium rail station it'll be a cool thing for a lot of fans riding the train to the stadium on game days.



I agree with you. Butler would have been nice but the traffic would have been terrible. The current location is much better. Watch how much the area around the stadium develops over the next 15 years. It will be explosive.
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Is opening day for MLS traditionally the last Saturday in February?  376 days then, a bit under 54 weeks.  Reason I ask, I think they get the stadium proper finished out in time.  But the infrastructure/parking egress are not going to be done in time at this current pace.  

Edited by Lobo
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1 hour ago, Lobo said:

Is opening day for MLS traditionally the last Saturday in February?  376 days then, a bit under 54 weeks.  Reason I ask, I think they get the stadium proper finished out in time.  But the infrastructure/parking egress are not going to be done in time at this current pace.  

Suspect you're correct which is why I'll be Ubering to/from the Domain or a nearby brewery rather than directly to the stadium, at least initially.

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