A rendering by design firm Gensler shows the soccer stadium proposed for Austin, Texas. (Courtesy Precourt Sports Ventures)
Take a look at renderings of a potential new home for Major League Soccer’s Columbus Crew in Austin, Texas, and you’ll see a canopy roof, open corners and … Wrigley Field?
Crew owners Precourt Sports Ventures released the drawings ahead of a recent proposal to the Austin City Council as part of the negotiating process for using a 24-acre city-owned parcel as a site for the 20,000-seat stadium. If a deal is struck by the middle of August, the team would play the 2019 and 2020 seasons at a temporary facility in Austin – most likely the Myers Field soccer stadium at the University of Texas – while beginning construction on the stadium. Completion would be scheduled in time for the 2021 season.
The drawings from architecture firm Gensler show an open-air stadium with a canopy and open corners to promote breezes and natural cooling from Texas summer heat. Gensler has designed MLS stadiums BMO Field in Toronto and Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles.
Jonathan Emmett, sports design director for Gensler, said the Austin stadium would feature standing-room supporter areas that have become a popular feature of recent MLS stadiums, including Orlando City Stadium. Club-level access to players is another likely feature of the finished product.
Full design work is expected to begin on the interior of the stadium once a land-use agreement with the city is complete.
“It's so easy to stay at home and watch the game that we want to provide every opportunity to be a part of the experience,” he said. “How do we create experiences where people feel connected? We incorporated supporter areas in L.A. and Orlando, and we've seen supporter groups coming to the forefront across the sports world.”
Emmett said the Austin site will be compact and feature outdoor parks and an event/performance area for concerts and other gatherings, playing off of the city’s love of live music and its expansive public parks system.
The stadium’s small footprint will bring a steep and stacked seating arrangement for the stadium, which Emmett said will mimic the feeling of classic baseball and European soccer facilities.
“When you talk about Wrigley or Fenway, those are iconic because of how the fans are seated since the fans are right on top of everything,” he said. “What that provides in terms of energy for the fanbase can become an iconic and defining feature. More and more, we're trying to put the fans on top of the action, which creates a great atmosphere for the players as well and can provide a real home-field advantage with the energy you get from the fans.”
The possible move of the Crew is surrounded by questions, including a legal challenge from the city of Columbus and state of Ohio, which passed the so-called Modell Law after the sudden departure of the NFL’s Cleveland Browns to Baltimore in 1996 as a move to prevent sports teams from relocating if they used public facilities.
Also, Austin residents and some city leaders have taken a dim view of Precourt Sports Ventures’ proposal, which would have them privately finance the estimated $200 million facility and lease the city land for $1 a year after donating the field to the city, a move that is seen as a way for the team to avoid annual property tax payments.
Still, recent surveys show support for what would be the first professional franchise in one of the fastest-growing areas in the nation. The city’s demographics and proximity to MLS clubs in Dallas and Houston – and recent expansion candidate San Antonio – for potential rivalries have the ownership group bullish on Austin’s potential.
“Of all the major league sports, soccer fits well here with the way it's growing and the millennial fans it's attracting,” said Dan Vaillant, senior vice president of sports consultants CAA Icon and project lead on the relocation bid. “Plus the popularity of European soccer here is incredible, and we're going to build on that.”