Anthony Precourt is a busy man.
The investor-operator of Columbus Crew SC has plenty on his plate, including business deals and sales initiatives. But right now, giving Head Coach and Sporting Director Gregg Berhalter the green light on transfer deals is his priority.
“Gregg and I talk almost daily right now, as it relates to a number of different discussions we’re having,” Precourt told MLSsoccer.com. “But I talk about it from the business perspective and Gregg talks about it from the technical perspective. So I defer to him. I know we have a couple of positions of need and Gregg is working really hard to bring in a world-class player.”
Does the mention of a “world-class” player mean that Precourt is looking for a new, marquee signing?
Not necessarily.
“I think we have a marquee player in Federico Higuain, who we’re very excited to have as a part of our club going forward,” he said. “Obviously there were discussions around bringing Mix Diskerud in over the last transfer window and we found him to be a very attractive player for us in terms of the on-field technical abilities and his connection to the national team. But we’re going to be aggressive when we find the right player. We want to find great players and we’re working very hard to do that.”
And while Precourt was quick to reference the Diskerud saga from earlier in 2014, he declined to comment on whether the team was still looking at the midfielder this offseason.
But what he does expect is a strong squad when Berhalter is done reloading for 2015.
“I’d like to be in MLS Cup next year,” he said. “I think we can represent the Eastern Conference. I think we had that type of team this year, and with the offseason moves we’re making we’re going to be a better team coming into 2015.”
Despite the club’s first playoff run since 2011, attendance for the lone Crew SC home game was just over 9,000, another disappointing postseason draw for the organization. Precourt isn’t shying away from that number, and says the business side of the club knows what they want to do to fix it.
“One thing you’re talking about at the league level is having the playoff dates known in advance and including them in our season ticket packages and also having a lot more time in advance so that our ticket sales group has longer than two weeks to sell those tickets,” he said. “In this market in particular, the weather was tough that day and the Ohio State Buckeyes were playing three hours later and we only had a short time to sell those tickets. So it was a disappointing outcome, but we know exactly what we need to do to get better.”
Though last season saw a collection of stadium amenities added, Precourt said this season’s changes will be largely cosmetic in “converting” Crew Stadium into the new Crew SC brand.
And while he reiterated that naming rights for the stadium are a priority, Precourt could not provide an update on the project, and said he won’t be speaking publicly “until we have some news to share.”
One definitive statement he made was that after improving facilities last season, the club should be staying in its Obetz practice facility for the foreseeable future.
“We’re also evaluating our training facilities and potentially making some pretty exciting improvements to our training facility this season as well,” he said. “Our relationship with Obetz has never been stronger, and they’re committed to the vision that Gregg and Asher have shared with the Obetz general manager. We’re really excited about it. So I would say we’re committed to it.”
