in october 2017, columbus crew sc owner anthony precourt announced plans to move the franchise to austin, texas by 2019. the announcement spawned a league-wide backlash and legal action against the league by the ohio state government. on august 15, 2018, the austin city council voted to approve an agreement with precourt to move crew sc to austin, and on august 22, 2018, the club's new name, austin fc, was announced. after negotiations between precourt and jimmy haslam, owner of the cleveland browns, were announced, mls made it clear that austin would receive an expansion team only after a deal to sell columbus to a local buyer had completed. the purchase of crew sc by haslam's group was finalized in late december 2018, and on january 15, 2019, austin fc was officially announced as a 2021 mls entry.