State Representative Mike Duffey (21st District) of Columbus has proposed a legal plan to save the Crew. According to an article in Columbus Business First, Duff asked Attorney General Mike DeWine to sue Anthony Precourt to keep Columbus Crew SC in Columbus.
Duffey bases his idea on Ohio Revised Code 9.67, which was created after Art Modell moved the Cleveland Browns to Baltimore in 1996.
The ORC, titled “Restrictions on owner of professional sports team that uses a tax-supported facility” reads:
No owner of a professional sports team that uses a tax-supported facility for most of its home games and receives financial assistance from the state or a political subdivision thereof shall cease playing most of its home games at the facility and begin playing most of its home games elsewhere unless the owner either:
(A) Enters into an agreement with the political subdivision permitting the team to play most of its home games elsewhere;
(B) Gives the political subdivision in which the facility is located not less than six months' advance notice of the owner's intention to cease playing most of its home games at the facility and, during the six months after such notice, gives the political subdivision or any individual or group of individuals who reside in the area the opportunity to purchase the team.