Make no mistake about it, the Columbus Crew are gone. The pretense of seeking a downtown stadium in Columbus is just using what leverage the franchise has to get the city of Austin to commit more public financing toward a new facility there.
According to Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated, a press conference on Tuesday will feature Crew owner Anthony Precourt announcing that unless the club gets a new stadium in downtown Columbus, he will take his ball and go to Austin. A larger consideration of the details of the situation point toward Precourt already being more than halfway gone, however.