Soccer expansion effort moves forward

The city of Springfield and the United Soccer League LLC continue to eye each other over the prospect of a local expansion team.

One USL official, Steven Short, senior vice president of expansion, traveled to Springfield from Tampa for a Nov. 18 watch party at Mully’s Pub & Patio on East Republic Road. It was a full house – most clad in soccer garb, with a few sporting free USL scarves handed out on-site.

The fans watched as the U.S. men’s national team worked to conclude its season with a 5-1 trouncing of Uruguay. National media commentary following the game suggested the win stands the team in good stead for World Cup action next year.

If USL officials were hoping to see some local soccer enthusiasm, the Mully’s crowd represented well, as did the bar itself, with soccer paraphernalia lining the walls.

Short denied that the event was a test of the appetite for sports entertainment.

“It’s not about gauging. It’s about really just bringing the soccer and the whole community together,” Short said. “It’s a great opportunity right before the World Cup draw, which is Dec. 5, and obviously the World Cup next year. It’s really just a great chance for us to welcome everybody and bring everybody together.”

Just under a year ago, an event was held at the potential site of a USL stadium in Springfield: city-owned property at 1109 E. Trafficway, just east of the Hammons Field ballpark that is home to an existing professional sports squad, the Springfield Cardinals baseball team. It’s an empty field, now bounded by a chain-link fence emblazoned with USL banners, and at one point in the city’s history it was a quarry-turned-landfill, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting.

Two days before the event, the city and USL inked a memorandum of understanding to study the feasibility of a soccer stadium at the site and of establishing local men’s and women’s professional soccer teams. These would be supported by 75-100 full-time jobs, USL Chief Operating Officer Justin Papadakis said during the announcement.

The MOU spelled out an arrangement for the parties to evenly split the $150,000 cost of a feasibility study, SBJ reported at the time.

Strong interest
The MOU was for a year, but Springfield Workforce and Economic Vitality Director Amanda Ohlensehlen said the one-year term would be automatically extended for two additional six-month periods as needed.

“There’s still very strong interest on each side to continue to evaluate options and get to a point where we can understand the costs,” she said. “We’ll start diving into more of the details of the actual project’s development.”

Ohlensehlen said a lot of work has happened in 12 months. She and City Manager David Cameron traveled to Spokane, Washington, to view a newer USL facility in use, and USL officials have traveled to Springfield several times. Additionally, an informal steering committee has been formed locally from soccer fans and other interested people who want to be part of the feasibility phase, she said.

One member of the committee is Councilmember Callie Carroll. Carroll, who was at the viewing party, said even though she is not a follower of the sport, she is eager to see soccer teams make their home in Springfield.

“Any time we can have anything for families to do – whether it’s sports or arts or culture – I think it’s a good thing for Springfield,” she said. “That’s why I’m part of it.”

She also likes the workforce attraction and retention element of having local teams.

“The more cool things we have in Springfield, the more that young professionals, young families and just families in general will have things to do on the weekend and at night – so yeah, it’s a huge deal,” she said.

Danny Perches, formerly with the city’s Economic Vitality office and now with engineering firm Olsson Inc., is also helping with the soccer effort. At the viewing party, Perches was greeting visitors at the door and handing out drink tickets. He was clad in a green soccer jersey for team Mexico.

“I’m just here to show USL that we’re excited about the opportunity to bring a team to this area,” he said.

Asked how important he thinks it is for the city to show up to events like the USL viewing party, Perches said it was very important.

“I think showing up demonstrates that there’s an interest and people are excited about this opportunity,” he said. “The people that we have here demonstrate to USL that there really is a demand, and people are really interested in this coming to the city.”

Geological study
Ohlensehlen said part of the feasibility study was geological, and those assessments have focused on whether the ground can sustain a stadium. That includes examining the site to determine any potential constraints about placement or configuration of a stadium and any associated structures on the site.

“Thus far, it looks very positive, as far as its potential,” she said of the site, adding that there are many different options for how a stadium could be constructed there.

Meanwhile, she said, USL is working with an architectural team to determine what a stadium might look like.

Short said USL is very interested in expanding into the Queen City with a stadium.

“Our team has come out and already identified Springfield as a city of interest,” he said. “Since our announcement in December, we’ve been to town multiple times, and we’ve had many meetings with individuals, whether they’re with business ownerships or they’re at a restaurant, like tonight. We’ll do a lot more of this in the future, just to understand, yes, USL is a system, but we are very community driven.”

Short said the league is interested in learning what teams and a stadium might look like locally, including how the city will support its teams, what food they would want in the venue and more.

He said on one of his previous visits, he enjoyed cashew chicken night at a Cardinals game, and that gave him a taste – literally and figuratively – for what the city is all about.

“We like to take in experiences like that and really just listen,” he said. “We want to listen more than dictate the conversation.”

Catalyst for growth
Short said soccer can be a catalyst for growth in the city, and he added that when USL teams are established in a new city, energy comes with them.

“We’ve sat with a lot of city leaders across the country, and they’ll say things like we need to find ways to retain talent; we need to attract talent; we need to prevent them from leaving and going to Charlotte, Atlanta, St. Louis or Kansas City,” he said. “We’ll see job creation, and we’ll also potentially see more businesses come to town. Each city does it differently, and their focuses are different.”

Short said the stadium will have events year-round, including soccer, but also festivals, concerts and meetings.

“A lot of people just think of those 40 soccer nights a year, but we’re looking at everything else that can go in there and keep that busy, so make it a hub of activity,” he said.

USL operates two men’s professional divisions, a men’s preprofessional division, a youth division, a women’s first division and a women’s preprofessional division. The men’s games operate February to November, while the women’s league is on the international calendar of August to May, he said.

Asked about team names, Short said that is yet to come.

“A team name will come,” he said, “typically as a community issue, rather than something that’s dictated.”

He added that the USL will take suggestions, with a designer drawing up possibilities and the league conducting focus groups and getting a feel for what makes Springfield Springfield.

“I’ve heard of a couple suggestions already – I can’t reveal them, but that’s coming down the road,” Short said.

Also unclear at the moment is a timeline. This varies, he said, depending on how long it takes to build a venue or if a temporary venue is available. It would likely take at least 12 months to establish teams – a little longer to get a stadium up and running, he said.

Short said Springfield appears to be a good prospect for soccer, with a strong population and a desire for sporting and entertainment options.

“You already have a tremendous sporting culture here, between the clubs, the universities and the professional teams that are already here, and everywhere we go, people want more sports, so we hear that,” he said.

Part of the feasibility process is also examining the city’s corporate and philanthropic bases.

“We take a lot of different factors into play, but really it’s the desire and the want,” he said. “We want to make sure the team reflects the community, and that takes time.”

He added that the league’s outreach to the business community – already underway – is to engage about what they consider important, from community health to attracting and retaining talent.

“We want to make sure we can meet their needs as well, and also how can we recognize their employees for the work they’re putting in,” he said.

Moving forward, he said, Springfieldians can expect more visits from the USL, with focus groups, digital surveys and meet-and-greets.

“We want to continue to let everyone have a voice and bring them along with us,” Short said. “Here’s USL, but it’s really for Springfield, and how do we make it Springfield’s team – not just a pro team that everyone supports.”