The USL announced Friday that new ownership has been approved for the Austin Bold and that the new ownership group, led by Donnie Nelson, Neil Leibman and Bobby Epsten, is actively pursuing a relocation of the franchise to another Texas city. The franchise will not participate in the 2022 season.
The Striker Texas reported in October that an ownership change and relocation effort were imminent, and according to multiple sources the players on the 2021 Bold squad were informed of plans to move the franchise to Fort Worth. The same sources said that Nelson, the former Dallas Mavericks president of basketball operations, would take over as majority owner.
The statement from the USL listed Nelson first, but did not include details about the ownership structure. Epstein has owned the Austin USL franchise since 2015, when it was the Austin Aztex. He brought the club back after a three-year hiatus in 2019, and the Austin Bold played three seasons at a purpose-built 5,000-seat stadium located at Circuit of the Americas, where Epstein serves as chairman.
Leibman is the president and COO of the Texas Rangers in Major League Baseball, and an original member of the ownership group that purchased the Rangers in 2010.
The Bold had a three-year record of 28 wins, 26 losses and 28 draws, and made the playoffs during its inaugural 2019 season where it defeated LA Galaxy II in a play-in match before taking Phoenix Rising FC to penalties.
Dwindling attendance coincided with the arrival of Austin FC to Major League Soccer in 2021, causing the Bold to join the ever-growing list of relocated or defunct USL franchises. Next season alone, the Bold and OKC Energy FC will go on hiatus, and several MLS-owned clubs will leave USL to join the new MLS Next Pro league.
Friday's statement from USL did not mention Fort Worth by name, only saying that the ownership group is "actively" pursuing relocation to "another major city in the state of Texas." The group will made additional announcements in the coming months about relocation and branding, the statement said.