USL to Louisville movement needs more investors
Efforts to bring a United Soccer Leagues Pro Division franchise to Louisville have reached their final stages, with the city and Louisville Bats baseball club reaching agreements that would let the team start play at Slugger Field in 2015.
What remains for local architect Wayne Estopinal, a minority owner in the Orlando City Soccer Club that would relocate its USL team to Louisville, is the search for more investors.
“I want to make sure I’ve got other money backing me up here,” said Estopinal, who has put up a quarter million dollars of his own money and has a number of others pledged.
Still available are a number of ownership shares, either a full share at $25,000 or a half at $12,500. Estopinal wants to raise $3 million but said he can sign a letter of intent to transfer ownership to Louisville if he raises about $1.5 million.
USL Pro is the nation's third-tier soccer organization, designated as Division III behind MLS (Division I) and the North American Soccer League (II). Fourteen clubs play in the league this season, with the closest possible rival in Dayton. Teams in Colorado Springs, Detroit and Tulsa will also join in 2015.
The league has already approved of a move to Louisville should ownership come together.
“There’s no obstacles here to bring in the best USL franchise in the history of the league to Louisville,” said Estopinal, who insists “this is going to happen.”
His architectural firm, The Estopinal Group, released a number of renderings on Monday detailing what Slugger Field would look like configured for soccer. The pitch will run up the first base line, requiring a transition from a baseball field that involves moving the pitcher’s mound and covering base paths. That design would bring most seats at the stadium into play, with tickets expected to cost from $10-$25.
“It could play a part in the city’s larger transformation with 18 to 20 more events in downtown Louisville in a time when there’s no games going on at the Yum! Center — at a time when the weather’s beautiful and people want to get out,” said Justin Brown, a member of the Marian Development Group who has invested in the club.
“It’s not a silver bullet, but it’s something that leads to that better sense of place that great cities have — that makes people want to be there. It’s one more thing for people to do. It’s one more thing for our city to rally around.”
Estopinal continually stressed that “we’re bringing a high-quality product here” that would shared Slugger Field with the Bats as the seasons conflict.
The Orlando City USL franchise played just three years there before getting Major League Soccer expansion. The Lions will remain in Orlando and form an affiliation with the would-be Louisville team, which has yet to be named.
Orlando City has won two championships in three seasons and last year led USL Pro in attendance after drawing 20,886 to its championship match at Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium. Estopinal aspires for similar results in Louisville.
“The goal is, USL Louisville wants to be the best USL franchise in the country, just like Orlando City, the predecessor was,” he said. “And when the MLS opens up after 2020 — which isn’t a long way off — we want to be in the discussion to bring an MLS team to the city.
“The mayor is fully on board. They have set some very reasonable attendance thresholds for us to achieve, and then we can start talking about a stadium.”
A local soccer support group, The Coopers, has already amassed a list of more than 1,500 would-be season ticket holders that will get first crack at selecting their seats. The organization continues accepting members through its website, louisvillecoopers.com.
“Ultimately, we talk a lot about doing big things in Louisville, but then we often wonder why more big things don’t happen,” said Brown, the investor. “We need people to step up and do this. The biggest reason we’re investing in this is because sports are something we think we need here.
“We think this is something that’s great for Louisville. We’re not just going to say that. We’re putting our money where our mouth is, and we’re hoping other people will too.”
Jonathan Lintner can be reached at (502) 582-4199; follow him on Twitter @JonathanLintner.