LOCAL

UPDATE: Austin FC website restored for fans seeking season tickets

Chris Bils,Mary Huber
cbils@hookem.com
The badge for Austin's new MLS team, Austin FC, is unveiled to supporters at The North Door in Austin, Texas, on Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2018. NICK WAGNER / AMERICAN-STATESMAN

Noon update: The Austin FC website is back up and running after crashing earlier Wednesday as fans tried to secure season tickets for upcoming games.

Team president Andy Loughnane said the site had gone down because of "unprecedented traffic" as soccer fans scrambled to make deposits on season tickets.

The team had released an alternative link to use for the time being. Officials now say the AustinFC.com website has been restored and fans can make deposits there.

"Austin FC memberships are showing no signs of slowing down," Loughnane said. "Demand is high and we are extremely grateful to all of Austin for their early positive signals."

Earlier: Soccer fans hoping to secure season tickets to future Austin FC games have run into problems Wednesday morning after the team's website crashed.

The team began accepting deposits for seasons tickets starting Wednesday morning, which cost $50 per account for general seating and $100 per account for premium seating. Shortly after they began accepting the deposits at 10 a.m., the AustinFC.com website crashed.

The team has released a link to an alternative site where fans can stake a claim to season tickets.

All deposits are refundable. Team representatives will look to begin converting those deposits into season ticket memberships between this winter and the summer of 2020. The club will begin playing matches in the spring of 2021.