Big news out of Austin, Texas. As I mentioned in a Patreon report, the imminent finalization of the lease agreement between The City of Austin and MLS has occurred, with the City executing the lease development agreement, which clears the way for MLS to announce the long awaited franchise in the city. The Term Sheet executed in August meant that once the terms were agreed to, there was no need for further ratification by the Austin City Council. That said, the sudden agreement (though it had been expected for some time) may rankle those on the Council who wanted input before the agreement was signed.

With this agreement in place, it is likely to trigger a couple of events. First, with the binding agreement, MLS will now be able to transfer Anthony Precourt’s MLS operating rights to Austin. That will also fully clear up the sale of the Columbus Crew to the Haslam/Edwards group, pending the final signatures on the Columbus government obligations.

Further, if Bill Aleshire is true to his word, this will likely trigger a lawsuit to attempt to cancel this agreement.

I will update this with quotes from the relevant parties as I get them. You can review the agreement here. I’ll have full analysis later.

Update: You can read the MLS2ATX press release here.