Precourt, the managing director of Precourt Sports Ventures, first expressed interest in buying a sports team a year ago. That’s when he contacted Rob Tilliss, the founder and CEO of the sports investment firm Inner Circle Sports, to begin the process. (Inner Circle Sports ultimately ended up advising the Hunt Sports Group, the original owners of the Crew dating to the league’s inception in 1994, on the sale). Negotiations took four months to complete.