Pro soccer league explores Valley for expansion team
Jul 3, 2012, 7:04 AM
PHOENIX — Phoenix could be in line for a professional soccer expansion team from the North American Soccer League.
“There are a handful of extremely large cities, top 20 in population in the U.S. that don’t have professional soccer,” said Commissioner David Downs.
“We think Phoenix is absolutely ideal to support an NASL team.”
Downs said in order for Phoenix to be admitted, an owner must be approved. The league is talking to several potential owners, none of whom Downs would identify.
“It’s very important with our league that we get owners who are committed and loyal to the community and want to make a long term go of this,” he said.
“We don’t want people who want to just dabble with something for a very short period of time, then just give up and move on to the next project.”
Then there’s the matter of where the team would play.
“Typically, in our league, the stadiums run from 5,000 to 10,000 capacity,” he said. “Our league average attendance this year is roughly 4,000 a game, but we have one team that’s averaging 10,000, so a stadium of that magnitude is ideal for the league. Obviously, a little larger doesn’t hurt.”
The league is looking at Cactus League stadiums, but isn’t ruling out University of Phoenix Stadium.
“Where the Cardinals play is not a crazy suggestion,” said Downs. “Those sorts of stadiums can be dressed in a way to make a smaller crowd than an NFL-sized crowd look and feel like a pretty good crowd.”
Downs said there are a lot of soccer fans in the valley because of Mexico’s national team and the Mexican League.
Downs said Phoenix could be added to the league by 2014. San Diego, Las Vegas, Detroit, Albuquerque, N.M., and Sacramento, Calif., are among other cities being considered for a team.
The eight-team league is headquartered in Miami. Sites include San Antonio, Texas, Atlanta, Tampa, Fla., Puerto Rico and Edmonton, Canada.
The NASL is the second division of pro soccer in the U.S. Major League Soccer in considered the top pro league in America.
