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Austin FC will play its first-ever home game in a nationally-televised match on UniMás and TUDN, against the San Jose Earthquakes at 8 p.m. on Saturday, June 19, the team announced Wednesday.
Before they play in the capital city, the team will head to the West Coast to kick off their inaugural season against fellow Californian team, LAFC, at the Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 17. Fans can book a flight or sit back and watch the nationally-broadcast match on FOX and FOX Deportes.
The team also announced that its first regionally-televised match will take place at 8 p.m. on Saturday, April 24 as the team travels to the Rockies to play the Colorado Rapids in Commerce City, Colorado.
All three teams are in the league's Western Conference. The LAFC were runners-up in the CONCACAF Champions League in 2020 and won the MLS Supporters' Shield in 2019, while the Earthquakes are host to one of the longest-tenured and top strikers in the league, Chris Wondolowski. The Rapids were fifth in the Western Conference in 2020.
Austin FC Sporting Director Claudio Reyna said in a statement that he was ready to begin a "new chapter" as the city sees its first-ever professional team begin play.
"Our players and staff are excited to begin the journey to represent all of Austin, and today's initial release of dates allows us to begin making plans for the earliest portion of our regular season schedule while circling June 19 for our historic home opener at Q2 Stadium," Reyna said. "April 17 will represent a new chapter in Austin history, and preparations for our inaugural season are officially under way."
The announcement comes as Austin FC ramps up training ahead of their season opener. Official preseason training began on Monday at St. Edward's University and will end at their new home, the St. David's Performance Center, as the practice facility completes construction.
ATXFC will have two closed-door preseason scrimmages at St. Edward's before the season commences. The team will first face off against USL team OKC Energy on March 19 then and Louisville City FC on March 25. More scrimmages are expected in April and will be announced in the coming weeks.
It's all coming together for Austin's first ever professional team, but head coach Josh Wolff said that it is "just the beginning" for the club at the team's first-ever preseason press conference. Wolff said the team's roster is "near completion" and that they are currently focusing on offensive play and molding each player into one cohesive unit.
Twenty-one rostered players are currently training, while recent signees including Designated Player Tomas Pochettino and Slovenian defender Zan Kolmanic are set to come in soon. Pochettino is projected to begin playing next week, while Zan is finishing up with his current team before making his way to the Capitol.
As the team moves closer to their home opener, the Verde fan base continues to grow. Season tickets are currently sold out, while nearly 11,000 sit on Austin FC's season ticket waitlist. While fans wait for the club to make its way home, games will be streamed across Central Texas on the CW Austin, KXAN and KBVO, and Spanish-language options will be announced closer to the beginning of the season.
Austin FC will play 34 regular season matches, but no further details have been released.
The MLS has yet to announce its full schedule, and the team will announce capacity estimates for its first home match in May.
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(Austonia)
May's second election is here, in which voters will decide on the candidates to represent their party in the November general election after the winner in some March primary races was unclear.
Just like the March primaries, voters will choose which party they choose to vote in. Then based on location, each ballot will show which races are in a runoff.
In Texas, candidates must win at least 50% of the vote to be elected. In the races where the top candidate only received a plurality of votes, a runoff is being held.
Here's everything you need to know before heading to the polls.
Know before you go
Early voting for the Texas primary runoff election begins Monday and will last through May 20; Election Day is May 24.
The registration period for this election has passed; check if you're registered to vote here.
The polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. As long as you're in line by 7 p.m., you can vote.
You'll need a valid photo ID to present once you're at a polling location.
Here are the early voting locations in Travis County.
View wait times at polling locations here.
Races to watch in Travis County:
Statewide
Lieutenant Governor
- Republican: Incumbent Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick won his primary in March.
- Democratic: Mike Collier and Michelle Beckley are vying to be the Democrat candidate on the ballot.
- Republican: Incumbent AG Ken Paxton is fighting for his seat against George P. Bush.
- Democratic: Rochelle Garza and Joe Jaworski will face off to be the Democratic candidate in this race.
View all the statewide races on the ballot here.
U.S. House of Representatives
View the district you live in here.
District 21
- Republican: Incumbent Chip Roy won his primary in March.
- Democratic: Claudia Andreana Zapata and Ricardo Villarreal are hoping to secure this vote.
- Republican: Dan McQueen and Michael Rodriguez are going head to head to be the Republican candidate in this race.
- Democratic: Former Austin council member Greg Casar won this race in March.
District 19
- Republican: Ellen Troxclair and Justin Berry are vying to be the Republican candidate in this race.
- Democratic: Pam Baggett won her primary in March.
Texas has been home to some of the country’s biggest celebrities of all time—think Amarillo resident Georgia O'Keeffe, Lubbock’s Buddy Holly and Corpus Christi’s famous singer Selena.
The Pudding’s People Map of the U.S., which shows each city’s “most Wikipedia’ed” resident, placed celebrities from all walks of life on the Texas map. As for Central Texas celebrities, there are some interesting (and not so surprising) names on deck.
(The Pudding)
Proving that Austin is “alright, alright, alright,” Minister of Culture Matthew McConaughey is both Austin’s and Uvalde’s top Wikipedia’ed resident. McConaughey, who was born in San Antonio adjacent Uvalde, has deeply ingrained himself in Austin by studying Radio-Television-Film at UT Austin, starring in the Austin-filmed movie “Dazed and Confused” and investing in Austin FC.
Heading down just a few miles south, San Marcos claimed former president Lyndon Baines Johnson as Texas State University’s most famous alumni, who graduated in 1930, and was also named in Fredericksburg. LBJ wasn’t the only ex-president on the map—George W. Bush was listed as the top resident in Dallas, Midland, Houston and Crawford.
You’ll see some other names with ties to Austin strewn around the state: Janis Joplin in Beaumont and Port Arthur; Stone Cold Steve Austin in Victoria and Edna; Dan Rather in his hometown of Wharton; and Waylon Jennings in Littlefield.
Venturing outside of the central areas, there are big celebrities who call Texas Home. Actress and artist Selena Gomez dominated search traffic in her hometown of Grand Prairie, musical artist Post Malone was most “Wikipedia’ed” in Grapevine, and Shaquille O’Neal was named in the city where he went to high school, San Antonio.
Plus, Thomas Haden Church, Angela Kinsey, Jessica Simpson, Chuck Norris, Roy Orbison, Ron White, Jessica Alba, Colt McCoy, Jimmy Dean and Johnny Manziel all had at least one city covered on the list.
Where’s Texas’ newest resident, Elon Musk? You’ll find him still in Los Angeles, as his foray into Texas living has just begun.
Click here to view the full map.