MLS in Austin During SXSW / Meetup Recap #2
With another SXSW in the books, it’s a good time to stop and recap what’s been going on with the MLS in Austin movement over the past few weeks…
The Soccer Don in Austin
The Commissioner of MLS, Mr. Don Garber, was in Austin to speak at SXSW with Grant Wahl. The first audience question was from one of our MLSinATX members and of course was about Austin’s path forward to Division One. Mr. Garber dodged it eloquently, but at the same time, praised Austin and didn’t leave any indication there wasn’t a path forward for our city, even with 12 current applicants for the 4 upcoming expansion slots.
You can give a listen to the full panel or jump to the Austin question at 47:22. It’s clear that MLS isn’t done with Austin yet.
“It’s got a lot of time between now and delivering on what that might mean, but this is a special city — for sure.” –Don Garber
On side note: Columbus Crew owner Anthony Precourt was also in Austin attending the panel. Just sayin’.
MLS in Austin Stickers
Our merch. game got a little better with the distribution of our first batch of MLSinATX stickers. We underestimated the popularity of these, but are ecstatic to see these stuck all over town creating new opportunities for people to discover and ask about our mission.
Want one? Be on the look-out for the MLS in Austin team at local events and at our meetups, or just drop us a line and we’ll let you know where you can pick some up.
SXSoccer Watch Party Recap
We hosted a meetup downtown so that local members and soccer fans visiting Austin for SXSW could mix and mingle and we could spread the word outside of Austin. We thought a watch party for a match between the two current expansion sides while we vie to become an expansion side ourselves made sense.
We had a great time watching Minnesota United FC get dismantled by Atlanta United FC. There were a mix of people in attendance ranging from sports network executives, to MLS writers, to new local members we haven’t had an opportunity to meet yet — including one rocking a custom license plate in support of Austin MLS. We even had a few people just wander into Fadó and get recruited to the MLSinATX cause.
A big thanks to Fadó for hosting us and to everyone who came out!
Jimmy Conrad Comes to Town
A hot topic at the watch party was Jimmy Conrad in Austin hosting one of his “Warmballers” events later that same evening. A number of members headed over afterward and we got the chance to talk to some fans and members of other local Supporters Groups about MLS in Austin. We got Jimmy hooked up with a sticker and even got a shout-out on Twitter.
In all, we feel it was a very successful SXSW for promoting MLS in Austin. The start of the MLS regular season closely aligning with Austin’s biggest conference, as well as the league’s fondness for our city, will continue to be advantageous as we build toward bringing a team to town.
We’re already thinking ahead to our next meetup event. In the meantime, please keep spreading the word. The momentum continues to build and we have a number of things in store for the rest of 2017. Stay tuned.
Thanks to everyone for their support!
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