Jay Anthony Precourt Jr.[2] (born
c. 1969–70) is an American investor and sports team owner. He is the CEO of Two Oak Ventures (formerly Precourt Sports Ventures), a group that owns
Major League Soccer club
Austin FC and formerly owned the
Columbus Crew. He is also a managing partner of Precourt Capital Management, a private investment management firm based in San Francisco, California.
Precourt, who had a stated interest in soccer, formed Precourt Sports Ventures LLC in 2012 and looked to invest in
Major League Soccer.[6] The firm bought the
Columbus Crew SC from
Clark Hunt for $68 million, then a record for a MLS franchise.[7][8] At the first Crew match he attended, several months before the sale was finalized, the scoreboard at
Mapfre Stadium caught fire and delayed kickoff for hours.[6][9] Under Precourt's ownership, the Crew hired
Gregg Berhalter as its manager and first sporting director;[10] and unveiled an updated brand identity that included a new logo and name with the suffix "SC".[11]
On October 17, 2017, Precourt Sports Ventures announced that it was considering moving the franchise in 2019 to
Austin, Texas.[12] The move came as a surprise to Columbus leaders and fans.[13] After offering an apology on
Twitter,[14] Precourt was the focus of anger from the team's supporters, culminating in the establishment of the
Save the Crew movement.[15]
In December 2018, Precourt Sports Ventures announced they had negotiated an agreement with the City of Austin to build a $242 million stadium on public land at 10414 McKalla Place,[16] following an evaluation of several other city-owned properties.[17] Construction began in 2019,[18] and
Q2 Stadium opened in 2021, hosting its first soccer match on June 16, 2021.[19][20]
On January 1, 2019, ownership of Crew SC was preliminarily transferred from Precourt Sports Ventures to a group composed of
Dee and
Jimmy Haslam and Dr. Pete Edwards, who pledged to keep the Crew in Columbus and build a new stadium in downtown Columbus.[21]Austin FC was officially announced as the 27th MLS franchise on January 15, 2019 and is set to begin play in 2021.[22] Precourt Sports Ventures was rebranded as Two Oak Ventures in July 2019, with Precourt remaining as CEO,[23] and six Austin-based owners were added the following month.[24]
Personal life
Precourt lives in
Austin, Texas,[7] with his wife Agatha and three children.[6] His father is Jay Precourt, a former oil executive.[2][4][22]