On Thursday, Austin City Council members clarified comments they made earlier this week about Major League Soccer that raised soccer-interested eyebrows around the country.

During an open work session Tuesday, Council Members Ora Houston and Ann Kitchen said they had been contacted by multiple parties with interest in bringing MLS to Austin.

"Evidently Austin is becoming No. 1 for Major League Soccer teams wanting to come to town," Houston said at the session. "I have at least four folks that I’m talking to about Major League Soccer."

Precourt Sports Ventures, the Anthony Precourt-led ownership group that operates Columbus Crew S.C., announced Oct. 17 that it is exploring a move to Austin. Some took the comments by Houston and Kitchen to mean that there could be other existing MLS franchises interested in moving to the Texas capital, too.

Kitchen and Houston said that is not the case.

"What I meant was there have been other people representing professional soccer interests who have talked to me," Kitchen said Thursday. "It wasn’t other teams."

Houston said one of the interested parties is Austin Sports & Entertainment, a group led by sports and media executive Sean Foley that is interested in pursuing an expansion bid to bring MLS to Austin.

A resolution was on the agenda Thursday that would direct city staffers to begin analyzing city-owned land, including underutilized parkland, within the "urban core" that could be used for a stadium or training facility.

Houston said she would offer an amendment to that resolution that would "be more inclusive so that other people who are interested in Major League Soccer have an opportunity to be considered in the resolution, as well as expanding the geographical area to include the Expo Center."

Kitchen proposed an amendment that would broaden the analysis of city-owned sites from the urban core to potential sites throughout Austin.

Council Member Leslie Pool proposed an amendment to remove all specific team references to cast the widest possible net on the soccer topic.

Council Member Jimmy Flannigan proposed an amendment during Tuesday’s work session changing the phrasing of "residential neighborhoods" to "communities" so as to include businesses, churches and schools among those that would be affected by an adjacent stadium.

A vote on the resolution was expected later Thursday.