COTA Austin pro sports, two ways

Soccer fans lamenting the loss of the Austin Aztex have but two years to wait for return of a United Soccer League franchise, the Austin American-Statesman reported Wednesday.

Circuit of the Americas is building a new 5,000-seat stadium to host a local USL franchise (which will distinguish itself from the recently departed Aztex with a complete rebranding, including a name change), the paper reported, which named COTA chairman Bobby Epstein will be the club’s majority owner.

The stadium, which will to be located between the Austin 360 Amphitheater and the circuit’s grand plaza, will represent provide five times the seating available for matches of the new FC Barcelona training academy scheduled to open this month, according to the Statesman.

Interestingly, although Epstein told the Statesman that the “purpose-built stadium” will have “an international-size field, no football lines, no track,” the paper reported Thursday that COTA is also flirting with the Spring League, a privately owned training league for NFL hopefuls that hopes to book the stadium for its combination training/interview/miniseries of football games for free agents hoping for a spot on a pro team.

“We’ll have the fields,” Epstein told the Statesman. “Somebody just needs to buy some goalposts. We’ve got the paint.” The COTA chairman added that he wanted to “continue diversifying his race track,” as the paper put it.

• Austin soccer franchise will roll in 2019 in 5,000-seat venue [AAS]

• Pro football instructional league might huddle up in Austin [AAS]