Just a day after it began accepting season-ticket membership deposits, Austin FC announced Thursday that it had secured deposits for over 30,000 seats.
Set to begin MLS play in 2021 as the league’s 27th team, Austin FC is an expansion club backed by Anthony Precourt‘s Precourt Sports Ventures. The club began season-ticket membership deposits Wednesday morning and its website crashed shortly thereafter, with high traffic being cited as the cause. By Wednesday afternoon, the club announced that it set a new MLS record for season-ticket membership deposits secured in a single day.
Austin FC would then announce on Thursday afternoon that it had secured deposits totaling over 30,000 seats. More from the Austin American-Statesman:
“Super exciting news for Austin and our football club,” Austin FC Chairman and CEO Anthony Precourt told the “Austin’s Soccer Pod” podcast. “Austin has surpassed all expectations. Austin loves soccer; we’ve always known that. That’s why we’re here. To exceed 30,000 deposits in 24 hours, we were at 25,000 within three hours even with the site crashing. Miraculous support and it’s still growing.”
All of those figures were for total seats claimed via deposit, meaning that the actual number of deposits placed was lower. Austin FC fans could claim up to eight memberships with a single account. The club will start play in 2021, and the planned North Austin stadium will have a 20,500 capacity that Austin FC President Andy Loughnane said could be expanded for future seasons.
“The stadium is being built with expansion opportunities all the way up to 22,000 seats,” he said.
Loughnane has said that 75 percent of tickets in general (non-premium) allotments will cost no more than $48 per match, and he confirmed Thursday that will not change. Deposits cost $50 for general and supporters section seating and $100 for premium seating.
Austin FC will play home matches at a privately financed stadium that will be constructed at McKalla Place in North Austin. New renderings for the stadium were released by the club on Monday, providing an updated look at some of the facility’s key features, including its premium areas. The new stadium is expected to open in 2021.
Rendering courtesy Gensler.
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