A seismic shift in the Major League Soccer landscape could be on the horizon as Columbus Crew SC owner-operator Anthony Precourt announced he's considering moving his club to Austin, Texas.

Sports Illustrated and The Columbus Dispatch reported late Monday that Precourt was seeking a new downtown soccer venue for Crew SC, and that he was already maneuvering to move the team to Texas in the event that the stadium push failed.

MLS, Crew SC and Precourt combined on a Tuesday morning news release confirming the reports.

Precourt, who oversaw a brand overhaul of Crew SC and significant investment in soccer personnel, said in the release the club's "current course is not sustainable."

“This club has ambition to be a standard bearer in MLS, therefore we have no choice but to expand and explore all of our options. This includes a possible move to Austin, which is the largest metropolitan area in North America without a major league sports franchise," said Precourt, chief executive officer of Precourt Sports Ventures (PSV) and chairman of Columbus Crew SC.

The seriousness of the situation was underscored by MLS Commissioner Don Garber, who said in the release, "“As attendance league-wide continues to grow on a record-setting pace, and markets across the country seek to join MLS, Columbus’ situation is particularly concerning."

“Despite PSV's significant investments and improvements on and off the field, Columbus Crew SC is near the bottom of the league in all business metrics and the club’s stadium is no longer competitive with other venues across MLS," Garber stated in the release. "The League is very reluctant to allow teams to relocate, but based on these factors, we support PSV’s efforts to explore options outside of Columbus, including Austin, provided they find a suitable stadium location.”

Columbus averaged 15,439 fans per home match so far in 2017 – the third-lowest average in MLS, which is currently made up of 22 teams.

Precourt bought Crew SC, one of the original MLS franchises, in 2013. At the time, he said publicly he intended to keep the club in Ohio's capital city.

In spite of the club's widely-praised rebrand and the ambitious pursuit of top players, the Columbus fan base hasn't responded on a consistent basis at the turnstiles.

The team's current venue, MAPFRE Stadium, was the first soccer-specific stadium built in America. Crew SC moved there after playing its first MLS seasons at the cavernous, 100,000-seat Ohio Stadium at Ohio State University's campus.

The stadium, which was better known as Crew Stadium for the majority of its existence, served as American club soccer's industry standard for years and was a popular destination for U.S. Soccer men's and women's national team matches.

But with the development of American soccer-stadium infrastructure in recent years, tastes were elevated and perspectives on MAPFRE Stadium changed for the worse.

As Garber alluded to in his statement, the stadium's features are widely viewed as outdated and its location at the Ohio State Fairgrounds is miles from the Columbus skyline.

Attendance lagged at Crew games and was long ago surpassed by Cincinnati's own Futbol Club Cincinnati.

A stadium discussion bubbled near the surface in Columbus for years. Now, the discussion appears ready to take center stage as the club's future in Columbus is at stake.

ANALYSIS: How could a Columbus Crew SC move impact FC Cincinnati?

FC Cincinnati, an applicant for MLS expansion, is hardly a bystander in this situation. The club could be affected in a number of ways by the actions of Precourt and the Columbus organization.

There's no easy answer regarding whether Crew SC's could-be move helps or hurts FC Cincinnati's MLS bid, but what's obvious is that the answer isn't clear-cut in either direction.

The situation in Columbus is definitely a new "X" factor in FC Cincinnati's expansion bid.

Skeptics of FC Cincinnati's bid questioned whether the FC Cincinnati and Crew SC markets were too close. With Crew SC out of the picture, those concerns would seem to be allayed – a relative win for FC Cincinnati, as some fans have interpreted the situation.

But don't go cheering for Columbus to pack up and leave tomorrow. The club's departure isn't necessarily a positive for Cincinnati's second-year United Soccer League team. The situation isn't that simple.

There was also a camp that suggested the proximity was a positive force. After all, MLS does emphasize regional rivalries.

A June 14 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup match between Columbus and FC Cincinnati proved the proximity could spark an immediate and passionate rivalry.

The match at the University of Cincinnati's Nippert Stadium drew more than 30,000 fans, furthering the idea that FC Cincinnati's presence in MLS could be mutually beneficial to the two clubs.

But Columbus' departure for Austin would eliminate an obvious geographic rival for FC Cincinnati.

Absent Crew SC, Cincinnati's closest geographic rival in MLS would be the Chicago Fire – a team that plays some five hours from the Queen City.