Albuquerque to join USL in 2019
Soc Takes had previously characterized Albuquerque as a “less likely” destination for the USL in 2019. Yet, multiple sources inform Soc Takes that Albuquerque will be part of the USL in the 2019 season. Currently, Albuquerque Sol FC plays in the PDL and is expected to continue to do so next year.
ABQ to USL
Per sources, Albuquerque’s application was discussed, along with 4-5 other teams, at the recently concluded USL Winter Summit.
Soc Takes understands that Ron Patel, current owner of Albuquerque Sol FC, will continue in an executive position within the board of the new USL team. However, the majority of the investment will be from a “group of local investors.” One of those investors will also serve as the principal owner who meets the USSF division II requirement of having a net worth of twenty million dollars. Soc Takes has been unable to confirm the identity of any of the additional investors.
A well-placed source informs Soc Takes that the group is still attempting to secure their “own stadium deal,” and is willing to find a “temporary (1-2 year) solution” to ensure they play in 2019. Currently, ABQ Sol FC divides their games between the UNM Soccer Stadium and Ben Rios Field at St. Pius X High School.
Ron Patel has previously spoken to the city to set the steps in motion to secure funding for a downtown stadium.
Albuquerque Sol FC (Credit: ABQ Sol FC)
Demographics for soccer
Albuquerque is the largest city in New Mexico and the major metropolitan area boasts of a population of just under one million people. Soc Takes understands that USL aims for its incoming division II markets to have a population of over 750,000.
Per a 2010 census, the city has a strong Latino population and approximately 65 percent of its population is younger than the age of 45, while almost 25 percent of its population is younger than the age of 24.
These are good soccer demographics.
Conjecture
The city of ABQ would be a good fit for a professional soccer team. The team would be virtually equidistant from USL teams in Phoenix, Las Vegas, Colorado Springs and Oklahoma City.
Additionally, from a sporting perspective, the team would have to compete with a AAA baseball team — and not much else — for sponsors and fans. Recently, there have been a number of collaborations between AAA owners and USL teams. It remains unclear if the ABQ USL team in 2019 will have any investment from the ownership group of the Albuquerque Isotopes (Author’s note: as a science nerd, this is the best name of any sporting franchise ever), Albuquerque Baseball Club, LLC.
Soc Takes contributor James Poling previously reported that the USL is interested in creating a central conference. It would make sense for this ABQ team to participate in the central conference.
At the time, USL commissioner Jake Edwards told Poling:
“We will have a couple of new markets coming into the league in 2019 that will I think make a three-conference model a certainty. We are looking at whether we do it in ’18, but I know we will definitely have it in ’19.”
It seems likely that ABQ will be one of those new markets. It remains unclear if the group will continue to field a team in the PDL once the USL team launches.
Soc Takes contacted Ron Patel about the story, but Patel declined to comment.
You can find Nipun Chopra at NipunChopra7 on Twitter.
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