Confirming rumors from last week that a move was imminent, the Austin Aztex announced today that they will be moving the franchise to Orlando and play in the Division 3 USL-Pro league.
What drove the move, according to Aztex owner Phil Rawlins, was the demands of some of his new investors. Rawlins said their investment was contingent upon finding a new home for the franchise, which had few prospects of obtaining its own stadium, could not sell alcohol at games and was geographically isolated in USSFD2.
There are currently no other USL-Pro teams confirmed to be playing in Florida, but the teams in Charleston, S.C. and Charlotte, N.C. are both closer to Orlando than any USSFD2 city was to Austin.
More than any of that, though, may be the prospects of ultimately joining MLS as an expansion team. The city is rumored to have designs for a MLS franchise in the next three to four years.
“(The new investors’) goal is to build up the soccer operations so that we can pursue an MLS franchise in the next few years,” Rawlins said in a statement on the Aztex website.
Austin Aztex Announce Move To Orlando, Have Plans For MLS
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