With the Austin City Council voting Wednesday to approve a stadium deal, Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff has shut the door for good on San Antonio’s hopes of gaining a Major League Soccer franchise.

“This kind of clears the soccer thing out of the way,” Wolff said. “We don’t have to worry about that any more. If people tell you we can still get one, don’t believe them. You wouldn’t even want one if you had to compete with an MLS team right down the street.”

The Austin City Council voted 7-4 to approve the McKalla Place deal after a nearly five-hour debate at a special meeting. The vote paves the way for Columbus Crew SC owner Anthony Precourt to bankroll a venue with an estimated $200 million price tag on 24 acres of city-owned land in North Austin.

Precourt’s goal is to begin play in Austin next year.

“The city council of Austin did a marvelous job of negotiating a very fair arrangement for a soccer team,” Wolff said. “As I understand it, the soccer team has to pay for a $200 million stadium itself and then the (rent) for the land runs $550,000 (annually starting in the lease’s sixth year).”

Wolff’s anger toward MLS remains after he accused it of shady dealing.

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In October 2017, Wolff requested that Bexar County District Attorney Nico LaHood launch an investigation into whether MLS officials misled the county when they encouraged it to purchase Toyota Field in 2015 and pursue an MLS expansion franchise.

“As you know, we went through a very traumatic period with them when they didn’t tell us that they had a secret agreement with Austin when we applied,” Wolff said. “Everybody thought, ‘Well, Austin will turn (it) down, and they didn’t. So, I think that, as a practical matter, this precludes us from getting MLS because (San Antonio and Austin) are only 75 miles apart and it doesn’t make any sense to put two teams that close together. It would hurt us as well as Austin.”

The county and city split the $18 million cost for Toyota Field from Gordan Hartman. Spurs Sports and Entertainment, which owns the stadium’s United Soccer League tenant, San Antonio FC, also paid $3 million for a 20-year lease agreement for use of the 8,500-seat facility.

As part of that 2015 deal, SS&E has 10 years to bring an MLS team to the city. If unsuccessful, the Spurs parent company will have to pay a $5 million penalty that will be split between the city and county.

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The district attorney’s office and the Watts Guerra law firm eventually found MLS was “unfair, unethical and duplicitous,” but that Bexar County did not have cause for legal action because SS&E withdrew its MLS application.

The district attorney’s office and the Watts Guerra law firm eventually found MLS was “unfair, unethical and duplicitous,” but that Bexar County did not have cause for legal action because SS&E withdrew its MLS application.

In his interview with the Express-News after the Austin vote, Wolff also indicated he has cooled on the idea of San Antonio landing a team in Liga MX, the Mexican first division.

When SS&E has sponsored soccer matches at the Alamodome featured Mexico’s national team or Mexican League teams, attendance has been robust.

“There are still people that think we can get a breakthrough where we can have more of an international league focusing on Mexico, but I don’t know,” Wolff said. “There have been so many scandals and crooked things going on with soccer, I don’t know who controls what. But if we did that (join Liga MX), it would be even better for us than MLS. … We were really treated in a very poor manner (by MLS).”

Wolff said he is heartened by the success of the sport at Toyota Field.

“We have a good performing team out there,” Wolff said. “They draw good crowds and they have added several additional games with respect to Mexican teams coming here.”

torsborn@express-news.net

@tom_orsborn