Boise Pro Soccer

Boise Pro Soccer is a planned American professional soccer team based in Boise, Idaho. It plans to field a men's team in USL League One and women's team in the USL Super League and play at a new soccer-specific stadium at the Expo Idaho grounds in Garden City, Idaho. The team was announced by USL on October 30, 2024.[1]

History

Boise was named a potential market for a United Soccer League team in the 2010s amid several friendlies and other matches that showed local interest. Jeff Eiseman, the owner of the minor-league Boise Hawks baseball team, stated that negotiations had been underway for several years with the league.[2] A friendly match between La Liga club Athletic Bilbao and Liga MX club Tijuana in July 2015 drew an attendance of 21,948 at Albertsons Stadium, the football stadium used by the Boise State Broncos.[3] A 2016 USL Championship match between Portland Timbers 2 and the Swope Park Rangers was watched by a sold-out crowd of 4,352 spectators at Rocky Mountain High School in Meridian, Idaho.[4]

The "Boise Sports Park" proposal to build a multi-use baseball and soccer stadium for the Boise Hawks and a new USL team was announced in 2017.[5] The stadium near downtown Boise would have had a capacity of 7,000 to 8,000 for soccer matches and use a grass pitch.[2] The Boise Hawks' ownership group, Agon Sports & Entertainment, announced in January 2019 that it had signed a franchise agreement with USL to field a USL Championship team in Boise once the stadium was completed.[6] The stadium was planned to be completed by 2021 if funding from a public development corporation was in place.[7] The original proposed site for the Boise Sports Park drew opposition from local residents and was replaced by a new location in the West End neighborhood, but a voter-approved ordinance to require a citywide election on any sports stadium with public funding and financing issues led to the project being shelved in December 2019.[5][8]

Stadium

The teams plan to play at a soccer-specific stadium at Expo Idaho, the county fairgrounds of Ada County, in the suburb of Garden City. The stadium would incorporate the existing grandstand of the former Les Bois horse racing track and have 6,225 seats under the county government's development proposal.[9][10][11] Boise Pro Soccer was awarded a 30-year lease by the county government on October 30, 2024.[12]

References

  1. ^ "United Soccer League, Boise Pro Soccer Set to Bring Professional Soccer to Treasure Valley". USL. October 30, 2024. Retrieved October 30, 2024.
  2. ^ a b Lycklama, Michael (April 6, 2017). "How pro soccer could work in Boise — from removable mounds to when it would start". Idaho Statesman. Retrieved October 30, 2024.
  3. ^ Lycklama, Michael (July 20, 2015). "Basque Soccer Friendly gives Boise plenty of firsts". Idaho Statesman. Retrieved October 30, 2024.
  4. ^ Southorn, Dave (June 6, 2016). "Timbers 2 defeat Swope Park at USL pro soccer match in Meridian". Idaho Statesman. Retrieved October 30, 2024.
  5. ^ a b Staats, David (July 12, 2020). "There's still no actual plan for Boise sports stadium — and may never be. Here's why". Idaho Statesman. Retrieved October 30, 2024.
  6. ^ Sowell, John (January 18, 2019). "Boise lands professional soccer team — but there's a catch". Idaho Statesman. Retrieved October 30, 2024.
  7. ^ Cripe, Chadd (March 10, 2019). "'Really unique, really cool, really vibrant.' Pro soccer could thrive in Boise". Idaho Statesman. Retrieved October 30, 2024.
  8. ^ Staats, David (December 28, 2019). "Voters handed bad news to developer of Boise's proposed stadium. Now he's doing this". Idaho Statesman. Retrieved October 30, 2024.
  9. ^ Lycklama, Michael (September 25, 2024). "A new stadium in the Boise area? Details on the latest plans for a long-debated project". Idaho Statesman. Retrieved October 30, 2024.
  10. ^ "FAQs". Boise Pro Soccer. October 2024. Retrieved October 30, 2024.
  11. ^ McCandless, Royce (October 30, 2024). "Stage is set to see new stadium, professional soccer in Treasure Valley". The Idaho Press. Retrieved October 31, 2024.
  12. ^ Cutler, Sarah (October 30, 2024). "A local developer says it will build a stadium at Expo Idaho, with pro soccer to follow". Idaho Statesman. Retrieved October 30, 2024.