Soccer Returns to Austin!

A happy day in the city the Free Beer Movement calls it's HQ, Austin, will welcome a soccer team once again. It's been nearly a year since the former club-that-shall-not-be-named skipped town in nearly the middle of the night and, well, as much as we try to push it into the dark recesses of our minds, it still haunts us...

The nightmare is over, however, as today it was announced the return of the Austin Aztex. Not the same Aztex that skipped town to Orlando for "greener" pastures, but a new incarnation. David Markley, a minority in the original AA, has taken the reigns and begun the process in bringing professional soccer back to Central Texas.

It was "bittersweet" to watch Orlando City Soccer Club capture the USL PRO Championship last month, said Markley, because "that celebration should've been in Austin."

In a meeting of Eberly's Army, Austin's Soccer Supporters, Markley spoke that the Aztex will make it's ATX return for the 2012 season. The team will debut in the United Soccer League's Professional Development League with eyes towards a more prominent position in future seasons.

Commenting on the loss of the previous Aztex, Markley joked, in true Texas tradition, "If someone takes your cattle, you get them back."

And so the Aztex will return to Austin. Although this name holds some bad memories for the passionate supporters of the former club, Markley said that the name still has massive "brand recognition" inside the Austin city limits. The name will help connect with casual fans that hardly knew the team left, create stability from one team to the next, and builds bridges in Austin's soccer community.

"This is Austin's team. One that recognizes Austin," said Markley.

Markley was the original owner of a PDL team in Austin called the Stampede and when previous Aztex owner Phil Rawlins came in with a USL franchise in 2008, became minority owner in the team. When the Rawlins moved to Orlando Markley retained ownership in OCSC. He now owns the name rights to the new team in Austin. Markley stressed that this Aztex team will be here for a long time.

"We're in this for the long haul," said Markley. "This is the right team at the right time and the right ownership group."

With the 2012 pre-season and regular season fast approaching the Aztex are moving forward with the search of a head coach for the PDL team (reports have a prominent local individual taking the reigns) and a home stadium (Markley indicated that the new Aztex home will be a familiar place) and tryouts in the spring. This is where Markley hoped that the Aztex would make it's biggest impact and be "accessible to the local community."

"We have tremendous talent in the Austin-area," he said. "We can put a high-caliber product on the field. We should be ready to come of of the gates and complete in PDL."

Markley stressed his willingness to work with ALL local youth clubs to make sure they all had a voice in the club and also made sure to emphasize that this incarnation of the Aztex will focus on outreach to the Latino community in Austin, something the previous club "failed" to make a strong connection to. Additionally, Markley said that the ultimate goal of the Aztex is to "endeavor to partner with the city to build a soccer-specific stadium."

Eberly's Army, Austin's soccer supporters, get behind the new Aztex.

What does this mean for the Free Beer Movement?

Simply.. LIVE access to American soccer. Televised action of the "Beautiful Game" is all well and good, but nothing can replace the draw of sharing an authentic game experience with a soccer newbie. To have soccer back in Austin means that FBM HQ can reintroduce the city to this wonderful sport. We again have our laboratory to work on our thesis of the "free beer philosophy" that proves free beer works.

Nationally, fans are re-enforcing the "free beer philosophy" all the time, but it pains us to not to be able to practice what we preach and so Sunday's announcement has us hoisting a pint in celebration. We're looking forward to partnering with the Aztex organization and any other venues (local bars and breweries) to promote the American, LIVE and LOCAL game, through the power of beer.

The Free Beer Movement lives on in each and everyone of us and now we're becoming a full partner in our own cause again!

Get the NEW Free Beer Movement "Pint Glass" shirt! Only from Objectivo.com

The Free Beer Movement Honored as 2011 Winner of the Texas Social Media Awards

The Free Beer Movement is proud to announce that we've been selected as one of the 2011 honorees of the Austin-American Statesman Texas Social Media Awards. Our nomination was pulled for nearly 400 and, along with 24 others, we'll be given our award at an event on March 10th. FBM Founder "Danny Beerseed" will accept on behalf of the Movement.

But really this award isn't for this website (although it IS pretty awesome), this award goes to all the Facebook "likes", the Twitter "followers", and the people that make the "free beer philosophy" apart of their comings and goings when it comes to soccer.

This award is for the idea of "Building American Soccer One Beer at a Time" and all of you that subscribe to that goooooooooooooooal (sorry... had to do that).

Thank you to all of you that have made this a great honor (in what we hope is a long line of honors and recognition for this site and this community). A special thanks to all of your who commented on our nomination (and Chris G. who started the whole thing!). And an extra-special thanks to Austin soccer community (all the guys in Chantico's Army... they don't have a team, but they've got the biggest hearts in America) and all the Internet imaginary friends that helped get us to where we are today including these awesome sites: The Shin Guardian, Nutmeg Radio, Match Fit USA, Yanks Are Coming, Church of Soccer, Objectivo/Ultras t-shirts and, of course, the American Outlaws.

I hope they have beer at this awards event otherwise its gonna suck....


Support the Movement. Get the Free Beer Movement T-Shirt. Only from Objectivo.com

Photo Essay: Texas Craft Brewers Mini-Festival at Black Star Pub and Brewery Co-op

The Free Beer Movement had the privilege to check out the Texas Craft Brewers Mini-Festival this weekend. The event was held during the grand opening weekend of the Black Star Pub and Brewery Cooperative in Austin, Texas. A dozen local breweries were on hand including some established names and few very exciting upstarts in the Austin-area craft brewing business.

More Photos and Information After the Jump....

Read more »

The Frailty of American Soccer

R.I.P. 2008 - 2010

On Friday, upon returning home from work, I was reading up on soccer news from my Twitter feed when I started reading frantic "tweets" from many of my Austin soccer friends. Inside Minnesota Soccer had broken the news that my local club, the Austin Aztex, were packing up and moving to Orlando, Florida. Today, the news was confirmed in a press conference held by the Aztex's owner, Phil Rawlins.

The news, seemingly out of nowhere, was, need-less-to-say, a complete shock to me.

Near the end of September I attended, along with a few thousand of my closest friends, the home finale of the Aztex as they defeated AC St. Louis, 4-2. It's with bitter irony that, at the time, we members of the Austin supporters group, Chantico's Army, chanted "Happy trails to you, we'll never meet again" to the AC players, mocking their clubs' endless financial problems and the possibility that their club would fail in the off-season.

How tragic that the pie was actually on our faces.

This is the frailty of soccer in America.

To see a franchise in American soccer fail is not surprising. In Major League Soccer, the domestic top-flight went through a series of painful contractions shedding teams in weak markets (two in Florida interestingly enough) in order to save the rest of the ship. In the second division of U.S. soccer club failures are more common, even expected, as 75% of teams have failed. The story of the Aztex is not one of failure, though.

The Austin soccer community is vibrant. The metropolitan area is home to nearly 1.75 million people, the 35th largest metro-area in the nation and nearly 40,000 youth soccer players. The population boasts countless young professionals, college students, families, and Latinos all demographically strong soccer fans. In fact, Austin had the seventh largest television audience for the 2010 World Cup. A recent article in the Austin Business Journal said that the economic climate in the city was suitable for a "tier 1" sports franchise.

The support for the Aztex has been nothing short of stable and growing. The team played only two years in the second division and averaged 3,733 people per game (sixth out of twelve teams) during the 2010 season. But the real surprise was that attendance figures rose 25% from 2009 making it the team with the greatest growth in the league. The supporters group, Chantico's Army, was one of the better organized, rowdy, and sizeable in the league.

If soccer can't succeed in a city like Austin and an atmosphere of support like what was seen at House Park then is anywhere in America safe for soccer?

The truth of the matter is that owner Phil Rawlins (a man who I've met, talked to, had many beers with, and enjoyed as a human being and a great fan of the game) and the next set of partners in this Orlando endeavor made a cold, economic decision about the fate of soccer in Austin for 2011 and maybe forever. It just didn't work.

Speaking today at a press conference in Orlando Rawlins said:

“I know the new investors very well -- they are football people and have been interested in working with us for some time. They like what we have achieved on the field and in the community,” he continued. “However, they made it very clear that their investment was contingent upon the team relocating, citing Austin’s lack of a soccer specific stadium with any corporate facilities, the inability to sell alcohol at games and the geographical isolation of the team within the new USL-Pro League. In short, they didn’t see Central Texas as the right market for the team and their future plans.”

It didn't make enough money. Now anyone who's getting into the "soccer in America" business today should know that this isn't a profit-making enterprise. Even in MLS only two of the 16 clubs finished in the black. Mr. Rawlins knew that for sure. And he knew this: investing in soccer in America isn't a get-rich-quick-scheme, it is a down payment on the future of the sport.

At the founding of the team, back in 2008, he even stated he was in it for the long-haul, "My goal is to make the Aztex a community-based club that the Austin area can be proud of."

Their website stated: "The Austin Aztex mission is to help grow the beautiful game of soccer in the greater Austin area."


So where did everything go wrong? How did signing a renewing a three-year lease at House Park (the Austin school district football field the Aztex played at) turn into a jump to Orlando? How did a rumored search to build a modest soccer specific stadium lead to packing up the moving truck? How did one owner's commitment to soccer in Austin, for the long-term, end up as hollow words?

So soccer in America hangs by a thread. Major League Soccer sports many sizable and stable teams in its league. Now in it's 16th season it looks as though MLS will survive and not go the way of the original North American Soccer League and the dodo bird. But several teams hang on through the benevolence of their owners. FC Dallas and New England Revolution, despite the successes of today and yesterday, respectively, throw up pathetic attendance numbers and are most certainly hemorrhaging cash for their owners Clark Hunt and Robert Kraft. How long will they continue to lose money?

The loss of countless numbers of soccer teams and leagues in the United States throughout the sport's history in this country continued to re-enforce the idea that American soccer continues to live on the razor's edge. 

If there's one silver lining to this whole debacle it's that it makes what we do here at the Free Beer Movement all the more important. Do I consider the failure of the Aztex and indictment of our efforts here in Austin? Certainly not, but it re-enforces the idea that if we're not careful and out there constantly fighting for this sport that we all love and want to see grow in our backyards then other fans may suffer the same fate as we have.

This frailty of American soccer makes it certain that if you truly love soccer and are living in the United States YOU HAVE AN ABSOLUTELY OBLIGATION TO SUPPORT IT IN ANY FORM, ANYWHERE. If you're in a city that sports a professional franchise, a semi-pro team, or even a college squad what's you excuse, as a soccer fan in America for not supporting the game that is LIVE and LOCAL?

Buy some tickets. Drag a few friends. Make it an event. And why not follow the "Free Beer Movement philosophy" while you're at it?

We cannot sit by idle as our local clubs either fold up or pack up for (supposed) greener pastures. We cannot allow the naysayers to be proven right; that this isn't a soccer nation or that your city isn't a soccer city.

Because it is. Because it is a nation that is captivated by European soccer and Mexican soccer and South American soccer and World Cup soccer, and, over time, increasingly, American soccer.

It may be too late for Austin, but this doesn't have to be the fate of any more soccer teams in the United States.

And as much as it pains me to say this, given what transpired yesterday, for the sake of American soccer, I hope that the newly minted Orlando City Soccer Club is successful. I want Orlando and its soccer fans to prove that the game can be supported there.

Support the Movement. Get the Free Beer Movement T-Shirt. Only from Objectivo.com

Free Beer Movement in Action: "Danny Beerseed" in Austin

The Free Beer Movement was invited to join up at a FREE BEER event for this weekend's Austin Aztex match against NSC Minnesota Stars. The local real estate firm CW Clay is getting into the Brazil market and hosted a Brazilian Independence Day party in conjunction with Satruday's Aztex match.

Being all things free beer and American soccer they reached out to us to help spread the word and lure soccer fans and soccer newbies in Austin to the game. CW Clay would cover the cost of the beer (awesome!) and we'd get to enjoy in it with loads of our newest soccer fan friends.

Brazilian trio Magna Rosa worked the crowd as they enjoyed two fine beers from Shiner Brewery, Bock and Blonde.

The Aztex didn't let down the fans, both old and new, as they cruised to a 2-0 victory on the night to re-take first place in the USSF Division Two (USL Division) standings.

Here are some pictures of "Free Beer in Action" and our contribution to our series of the same title. (Have a "FBM in Action" story/pictures of your own? We want them!)

The epic FBM banner makes another public appearance.

Right behind the kegs, of course! Where else!?!?

Members of the Aztex's supporter's group, Chantico's Army and the lone Stars fan in attendance chit chat.

Inside that cup is pure Shiner delicious-ness.

Brazilian trio Magna Rosa kept the crowds' ears happy.

Newbies enjoying the brew.

Longhorn and Aztex fans (football and futbol, respectively) gather under the banner of beer.

Pretty decent turn out (partial crowd shot). Everyone loves free beer. Brought in plenty of passers-by, too.

Just one more... then we'll head over to the game....

Bam! FBM representing at the game as well!

Support the Movement. Get the Free Beer Movement T-Shirt. Only from Objectivo.com

Free Beer in Austin! (This Saturday, September 4th)

In Austin? Like soccer? Like winning soccer? Like beer? Like free beer?

"What's with all these freakin' questions, man!??!?!"

Whoa, whoa... the Free Beer Movement just wanted to hook you up with some free beer this weekend. Chill out.

"OK, I'm cool. What's up?"

This Saturday, September 4th from 4:30pm to game time the FBM, in cooperation with local real estate firm CW Clay, is hosting a FREE BEER tailgate before the Austin Aztex host NSC Minnesota Stars at 7:30pm. The FBM, Aztex fans, and the Aztex supporter's group, Chantico's Army will be hanging out in the Thundercloud Subs parking lot on 12th and Lamar.... by the kegs, of course!

Enjoy LIVE MUSIC from Brazilian band Manga Rosa as well.

And just to sweeten the deal you can snag some discounted tickets to catch the playoff-bound Aztex for ONLY $9 (regularly $15).

All in honor of Brazilian Independence Day!

Come and find FBM Founder "Danny Beerseed" (in the FBM shirt, duh!) and he'll have FBM stickers for ya and may even fill up your cup.

This is the "Free Beer Movement in Action," folks! Bring soccer newbies to soccer through the power of FREE BEER.

Support the Movement. Get the Free Beer Movement T-Shirt. Only from Objectivo.com

Oh.... It's On Like Donkey Kong!

If you're in Austin, TX and a fan of the US National Team you need to be at the Chapter home for the American Outlaws in this town. The Free Beer Movement, AO, and the local club side, the Austin Aztex are hosting this little puppy right below:

Massively cheap beers tonight for the early birds and still a steal later in the evening. Plus, door prizes from all involved. You could get your hands on a FBM shirt from Objectivo, AO scarves, and loads of swag from the Aztex (backpacks, seat cushions, t-shirts, and, of course, game tickets).

There's no reason to not be with your fellow US fans or any other place than Mister Tramps tonight.

Support the Movement. Get the Free Beer Movement T-Shirt. Only from Objectivo.com

The Great Austin Beer Festival

Long time readers know that we're as serious about our soccer as we are about our beer. Every once in a while we get some pretty sweet perks that go along with the job and this weekend we're taking off our soccer hats and going solo into the beer world.

Beer enthusiasts across the country flock to beer festivals and for the first time the same town that hosts the Free Beer Movement's HQ is also hosting a HUGE beer festival.

Ladies and gentlemen.... the Great Austin Beer Festival!

On Saturday, June 26th from 4pm to 8pm Austin beer fans will be able to sample beers from OVER 40 BREWERIES from around the United States and the world. The festival is being held at the Austin Music Hall (208 Nueces Street, Austin, TX 78701).

Tickets are only $30 online and $40 at the door. A steal for four hours worth of 4oz. samples of beer!

And while it's got absolutely nothing to with soccer we certainly weren't going to pass up a great opportunity to sample some fantastic beers from award-winning breweries. We're sending our top beer taster to check out the event and report back on the Festival.

If you're in or around Austin on July 26th (after celebrating the USMNT's Round of 16 victory, of course) you need to be here.

We'll report back on all of our adventures!

Support the Movement. Get the Free Beer Movement T-Shirt. Only from Objectivo.com

American Outlaws: Austin X Free Beer Movement: USA - England Watch Party

America Outlaws and the Free Beer Movement have been working together to help promote American soccer across the nation. They've been big supporters of our cause (see our post on their site) and FBM Founder Dan is doing his part for AO, setting up the Austin Chapter of the Outlaws. In just a few short weeks we were able to go from a twinkle in Dan's eye to "official" and the World Cup was to be our coming out party.

What better way to push AO and the FBM then a massive watch party for the massive US - England match this past Saturday? We chose Mister Tramps Sports Bar as our official chapter HQ and fans packed the locally-owned and completely soccer-centric North Austin bar to catch the game. Each AO: Austin member was given coupons to give to friends, family.... hell, even strangers, if they wanted to, for FREE BEER from the bar.

That's Free Beer Movement in action.

You see we're trying to run a pilot program for the FBM in conjunction with American Outlaws, and if successful, expand the Movement to all AO chapter bars across the nation. As always we're pushing the idea that free beer is what opens the average non-soccer fan's door to the beautiful game. We know that for each member to pay for loads of free beer is great, but expensive. We need the support of places that have more beer and more money that your average AO member.

Enter the bars. Mister Tramps has signed on as our benefactor and test bar for the "Free Beer Movement in Action". Soccer newbies get free beer, AO members get entered in drawings for prizes (like FBM shirts, AO scarves and pint glasses, etc), and the bar gets loads of new customers.

How did it go?

I think we're on to something.

Next up..... Slovenia! See you at Mister Tramps at 8:30 am.

Support the Movement. Get the Free Beer Movement T-Shirt. Only from Objectivo.com

Found Free Beer Movement - Austin, Texas

What better way to spread the Free Beer Movement then my very own soccer team in Austin, Texas? Every Tuesday night you'll find Mr. FBM between the sticks for FC Arriba in the Super Social Co-Ed League for Austin Sport and Social Club; sponsored by who else.... Miller.

I snagged a 12-pack of the cheap stuff, Miller Lite, and dragged a cooler out to the field. Despite a stern talking-to from the field official about not having the beer in cups (apparently it's OK to drink there... just not from cans... go figure) we enjoyed a cold one after a thrilling 0-0 scoreline.

Beers were consumed and teammates were hipped to the FBM taking off in their own backyard!

Great success!

Free Beer Movement Match Day One

FBM members and their guests gathered to grab a few beers and watch the United Soccer League's Austin Aztex draw 2-2 with the Minnesota Thunder. We started at the Nomad Bar for a few beers beforehand (no beer allowed at the high school stadium the Aztex play at), including some Sierra Nevada Pale Ales and a blond beer who's name escapes me.

Here are a few pictures from the evening:

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

For the most part a positive first "match day" for the Free Beer Movement. Nobody ran screaming from the stadium at kick-off and all of the guests seemed to enjoy themselves. We even managed to squeeze out a few future commitments from several of the guests for the next Aztex home game (Aug. 29).

Next up on the FBM Match Day Agenda is a viewing part for some English Premier League morning matches. Now that's where the real fans come out!

Free Beer Sunday in Austin, Texas

The FBM hosts it's first "Free Beer Match Day" this Sunday in Austin, Texas! FBM founder Dan is taking a group of potential converts to the United Soccer League clash between the hometown Austin Aztex and the visting Minnesota Thunder.

As per the FBM Beer-to-Soccer Level Conversion Chart (located in the link list on the right side if the page) each visitor will receive FIVE free beers!

Stay tuned for a full match report.