Austin Business Journal named Austin FC Founder, Majority Owner, and Chief Executive Officer Anthony Precourt as its CEO of the Year at its annual Best CEO Awards. The award honors CEOs in Central Texas who have a strong record of innovation, outstanding performance, and leadership roles in the philanthropic, civic or political arenas that make a difference.
Precourt received the award in a ceremony at The Fairmont Hotel in downtown Austin on October 6, and will be featured in a special edition of Austin Business Journal.
“In building Austin FC from the ground up, we constantly focused on collaboration. Culture is king, and building a thoughtful and thorough club/company culture was of paramount importance,” said Precourt. “Success does not happen overnight, but we feel that through our hiring practices and operations on both the business and sporting sides of the club, that we have laid a foundation for long-term success.”
Precourt originated and led all planning efforts to bring Austin its first major league team, playing a key role in both the negotiation and finalization of the historic lease and development agreement with the City of Austin for the 24-acre property where Q2 Stadium now resides and Austin FC’s expansion club charter agreements with Major League Soccer.
Construction on both Q2 Stadium, a 100 percent privately financed $260 million state-of-the-art soccer-specific stadium located near The Domain in Austin, and St. David’s Performance Center, Austin FC's privately financed $45 million training ground located just seven (7) miles from Q2 Stadium, was completed under Precourt’s leadership. Austin FC ultimately secured six (6) founding partners for its inaugural 2021 season: YETI, Q2, St. David’s Healthcare, Diageo, PointsBet, and Netspend.
In 2021, Austin FC was the only club in MLS to sell out 100 percent of its home matches and has the league’s longest-active sellout streak at 33 consecutive matches. Tickets for Austin FC’s first-ever playoff match – the first major league professional playoff game in the city’s history – sold out in less than six (6) minutes.
In its first season in MLS, Austin FC led the league in merchandise sales, and ranked second in sponsorship sales, successes which culminated in the Club being nominated for Sports Business Journal’s Sports Team of the Year award.
Precourt hired Sporting Director Claudio Reyna and Head Coach Josh Wolff, who have led the Club to success on the field as well. Austin FC finished in second place in the MLS Western Conference in 2022, securing home-field advantage through the first two (2) rounds of the playoffs. The team’s 24-point improvement from its first season to its second is the second-largest improvement of its kind in the league’s history.
