Bringing a professional soccer team for RI

[grdan]

Hello everyone, i'm part of a group exploring Providence a potential home for a professional soccer team. We will enter either the NPSL(www.nationalpremiersoccerleague.com) or the USL 2nd Division(www.uslsoccer.com). We are aware of the Rhode Island Stingrays, but they're in a development league, mainly for college kids to keep their fitness levels up. Do you think there would be support in the community for such a team? the ideal location is Providence, but anywhere in the state works as well as we find an appropriate facility(2k+ capacity) I think it'd be great for the youth players in the area, as they'd have access to higher quality coaching and local competitive team. Any idea on locations? What do you all think?

[runawayjim]

i think it'd work out pretty well. there are a lot of immigrants living in and around providence (east providence, seekonk, fall river, pawtucket, central falls, etc). soccer is the sport for the rest of the world and i'm sure the turnout would be pretty good if the prices were reasonable (think pawsox prices).

[grdan]

i think it'd work out pretty well. there are a lot of immigrants living in and around providence (east providence, seekonk, fall river, pawtucket, central falls, etc). soccer is the sport for the rest of the world and i'm sure the turnout would be pretty good if the prices were reasonable (think pawsox prices).

[mental757]

I'd guess that one of the universitiy fields in RI could support a venue of that size. URI, PC, Brown, etc. Good luck with the effort and hopefully you decide to come to RI!!

[runawayjim]

I'd guess that one of the universitiy fields in RI could support a venue of that size. URI, PC, Brown, etc. Good luck with the effort and hopefully you decide to come to RI!!

[grdan]

i don't know about brown or URI, but PC doesn't have anything like that unless they build something new.

however, i think that it would need to be in the city to work. it would need to be easily accessible by public transportation for a lot of people. i think something along allens ave might be a good location. it could have easy public transit access and easy highway access.

[runawayjim]

We've contacted URI/Brown so far, no bites just yet. Our plan of action is to play in a rented facility for a year or two, get established in the community, then explore the possibility of constructing something in conjuction with the city or another sports franchise, but that is currently out of our financial range. Any other ideas?

[Lowerdeck]

RIC has a field that can seat a couple thousand.

[grdan]

great thanks alot, keep the suggestions coming, high school football fields can work as long as they aren't very narrow

[gregw]

Hope High School and Mt. Pleasant both have big athletic fields. There's also a soccer field at India Point Park.

[The Voice of Reason]

I would not even bother with URI. South Kingston is not at all convenient for anyone but students, and they allready have a team that is pretty good, and free to see.

I would suggest using the major population centers in and around Providence such as Providence, Warwick, Cranston, Pawtucket, and maybe Fall River or Woonsocket.

as far as a long term goal for a location I would look into the football field next to McCoy Stadium as people are allready comfortable with going to that area for a game, and having your pitch there would get free "advertizing" from all of the sports fans all ready heading there.

for the short term, I would see if there was a suitable place in Roger Williams park for temporary bleachers and such so you can prove your economic model without any major contract leases or overhead.

[webbage]

Is Bryant too far out for you to consider? I think they have a nicely-sized field.

[CtownMikey]

the cranston stadium just had astro turf installed and i think thats where the state's high school soccer cup is held annually...

def 2k+ for capacity..

the only issue is transportation

[grdan]

Is Bryant too far out for you to consider? I think they have a nicely-sized field.

[BBascule]

Hello everyone, i'm part of a group exploring Providence a potential home for a professional soccer team. We will enter either the NPSL(www.nationalpremiersoccerleague.com) or the USL 2nd Division(www.uslsoccer.com). We are aware of the Rhode Island Stingrays, but they're in a development league, mainly for college kids to keep their fitness levels up. Do you think there would be support in the community for such a team? the ideal location is Providence, but anywhere in the state works as well as we find an appropriate facility(2k+ capacity) I think it'd be great for the youth players in the area, as they'd have access to higher quality coaching and local competitive team. Any idea on locations? What do you all think?

[grdan]

I think you could even make it work in USL D-1 with a relatively low cost effort.

Pierce Field in East Providence is a good sized facility.

[Griswald]

I would love to see more soccer in Providence or RI, something with a high level of play, but is affordable to see. It would be nice if it were advertised enough so that the general public knew more about it - I suppose word of mouth works, but that's after the league has some success first.

Someone mentioned India Point Park, I know some leagues play there now - I'm not sure if it's a Portuguese or Spanish league. But the field is pretty much all dirt, and there aren't stands - people just bring chairs and set up tables for food etc.

What about a local high school soccer field, it could be cheap, plus they might like to have some extra revenue? I went to high school in East Providence, you could try EP High, Providence Country Day, etc. In Providence, the private schools have nice fields, Moses Brown.... Wheeler has a farm for their fields. The only problem with these places is lack of large capacity.

Good luck!

[grdan]

I would love to see more soccer in Providence or RI, something with a high level of play, but is affordable to see. It would be nice if it were advertised enough so that the general public knew more about it - I suppose word of mouth works, but that's after the league has some success first.

Someone mentioned India Point Park, I know some leagues play there now - I'm not sure if it's a Portuguese or Spanish league. But the field is pretty much all dirt, and there aren't stands - people just bring chairs and set up tables for food etc.

What about a local high school soccer field, it could be cheap, plus they might like to have some extra revenue? I went to high school in East Providence, you could try EP High, Providence Country Day, etc. In Providence, the private schools have nice fields, Moses Brown.... Wheeler has a farm for their fields. The only problem with these places is lack of large capacity.

Good luck!

[BBascule]

USL Division 1 needs a bankroll of about 10 million, and much larger facility would need to be secured, so our goal is to start either NPSL or USL 2 and work our way up.

[grdan]

Gotcha. I definitely think there's a large potential fan base.

[grdan]

Does anyone know anything about the new soccer facility Johnson and Wales University is developing?

[frymasterspeck]

Whatever you do, for the love of Maude, please DON'T make the colors light blue. The indignity those Manchester City supporters must face on a weekly basis, it's just sad.

[grdan]

Just an update for all of you that are interested, i've been researching and speaking with numerous people throughout Rhode Island and it is looking very likely that we will be placing a team in the Providence Area.

[webbage]

Just an update for all of you that are interested, i've been researching and speaking with numerous people throughout Rhode Island and it is looking very likely that we will be placing a team in the Providence Area.

[Frankie811]

I don't know who's building it, but there's a new soccer field going up on Dexter St in Central Falls.