COLUMBUS, Ohio – For the first time since Precourt Sports Ventures purchased Columbus Crew SC, Anthony Precourt is the owner of a team that has taken a step back.
In the two seasons after he purchased the team – then the Columbus Crew – in July of 2013, the franchise was on the upswing on and off the field. Precourt transitioned the club into its new Crew SC brand, building momentum that led to a variety of sponsorships and other financial victories. Meanwhile his hand-picked leader on the field, head coach and sporting director Gregg Berhalter, turned a middling team into a No. 3 seed in the playoffs in his first season and an MLS Cup finalist in his second.
But on the field in 2016, the team failed to maintain their trajectory. Crew SC managed only 36 points, good for the third-worst mark in MLS, missing the postseason for the first time since Precourt appointed Berhalter to his position. The Columbus owner admitted the season “fell well below expectations.”
“It wasn’t fun,” Precourt told MLSsoccer.com. “We only won eight games and we never really had a consistent stretch of the season. So it’s been really, really frustrating.”
Precourt is the Managing Partner of Precourt Capital Management, which specializes in investment management services and private equity investing in the energy sector. He said his non-sports experiences make him no stranger to adversity, and he isn’t shying away from a disappointing year or the fact that he expects better.
“I’ve been through many challenges in life, and you always learn that there are ups and downs in life and particularly in sports,” Precourt said. “We had some success out of the gates, making the playoffs in Gregg’s first season as the third seed … and then we were the second seed and made a nice run and hosted MLS Cup. So going into the season, we had very high expectations to continue playoff-caliber, entertaining soccer.”
What Precourt isn’t willing to do is entertain the notion of changing team leadership as a knee-jerk reaction.
While some fans questioned Berhalter’s leadership, given the lack of success following last year's MLS Cup run, Precourt says his support for the leader of the club’s soccer operation never wavered.
“I am very comfortable with Gregg Berhalter; we’re very pleased with him,” Precourt said. “We have 100 percent confidence in him and his staff. We just extended him to a new, long-term contract at the beginning of the season, and I’m a person who believes in building something for the long term. Consistency is really important. Culture is really important.”
For Precourt, the big picture of the club takes precedent over one poor season.
In the sporting director role that Precourt created just for him, Berhalter has dramatically altered the franchise’s soccer operation, from scouting to academy development. And while 2016 was bleak, Precourt likes the future Berhalter has put in place.
“Despite the setback this year, we’ve made considerable strides in terms of the vertical integration of the club and improving our academy and our youth development programs,” Precourt said. “As sporting director, Gregg has made a number of contributions across soccer operations. We took a step back on the field, but I have every expectation that Gregg will be successful in 2017.”
And though he emphasizes a thoughtful approach and a steady hand, Precourt warned not to take his commitment to consistency as unwillingness to act. He says the team will be “aggressive” this offseason, and changes will come when they are necessary.
“I’m not afraid to make a tough decision when we need to,” he said. “We’ve made changes in our front office and with the coach in the past, and Gregg’s not [afraid] either. Gregg and I are going to do what we need to do to make Columbus Crew Soccer Club successful, on the field and off.”
