Project 50/50: Part III

The view from the stands at Parkview Field in Fort Wayne, Ind. Photo credit: Marshall Dunlap

Welcome back to Project 50/50. This is Part III of my ongoing series, wherein I find what I believe to be the best untapped markets for professional soccer in every single U.S. state. The idea is that every single team concept should be Division 3 compliant, with a stadium that seats at least 1,000.

In the two months since the previous installment, we’ve actually seen two of my predictions come true. Tormenta FC in Statesboro, Ga., is the first team to join the USL D3 league for 2019, and joining Tormenta is FC Tucson in Arizona.

Anyway, as a means of apologizing for the delay, enjoy this extra-long installment. Let’s get to it.

HAWAII

With Project 50/50, every single state gets included, and that means there’s no skipping Hawaii. Yes, it’s a five-hour flight from Honolulu to LA, but we’re not skipping anyone.

So, how do we approach Hawaii from a sports perspective? The real constraints are the number of stadiums. There aren’t many to be found, and there is only one venue that I feel is really suitable for soccer at a Division 3 level.

As a quick aside, Hawaii has actually played host to two professional soccer teams in the past. In the original NASL days, the San Antonio Thunder relocated to Honolulu’s Aloha Stadium and played the 1977 season as Team Hawaii. However, that only lasted the one year and they relocated to Tulsa to play as the Roughnecks in 1978.

In 1994, the Hawaii Tsunami began play in the USISL, the precursor to the modern USL, and lasted four seasons. This team again used Aloha Stadium, but folded in 1997 due to dwindling attendance and on-field drama.

Due to Hawaii’s geography, I find it less helpful to use metropolitan areas here, so instead I’ll be using islands. Fortunately, the most populous island also contains my first choice stadium.

O’ahu
-Island Population: 976,372
-Home to University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa

O’ahu is Hawaii’s third largest and most populous island. It’s home to the largest city and state capital, Honolulu. This is also where Hawaii’s largest stadium, Aloha Stadium, is located.

However, we’re not using Aloha Stadium. With 50,000 seats and artificial turf, it’s definitely not what we’re looking for. However, 15 miles northwest of the capital, we find the Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium.

This venue is used by the University of Hawaii soccer team, features a natural grass field and seats 4,500. This is just about perfect. It’s not too far from the major population centers on the island, it’s convenient enough for people in the capital and it’s the perfect size for a lower-division team. This would be my number one choice for a Hawaiian soccer team.

This team would likely need to join a league with a strong West Coast presence in order to minimize travel time. When your closest road game is a five-hour flight, a season’s travel will add up very quickly.

IDAHO

Idaho is a bit of a curiosity. The state is large, though sparsely populated, and rural, yet home to quite a few major tech companies. It’s also home to the third-largest city in the Pacific Northwest, after Seattle and Portland. This is one of many states in the upper Midwest where the capital city region holds much of the population.

While Idaho generally has a reputation for being full of emptiness and potatoes, the state is actually one of the leaders in renewable energy. Micron Technology, one of the largest manufacturers of RAM and flash memory in America, is based there. Chances are, your computer/phone/tablet/whatever has at least something in it made by Micron. Anyway, onto soccer.

Boise
-MSA Population: 664,422
-Averaging 4,271 in ECHL
-Averaged 3,196 in A MiLB
-Home to Boise State University

Boise, Idaho, has been mentioned a fair bit in the rumor mill for professional soccer. Several months ago, there was a proposal released for a downtown soccer/baseball stadium that would host their short season Single-A Minor League Baseball team, with a capacity of 5,000 seats and natural grass. So far, this is still just a proposal, but there’s quite a bit of support by the local government.

In terms of existing soccer, the Boise metro area — among other parts of Idaho — are considered Portland Timbers homegrown territory, and there have been many rumors of the Timbers potentially moving their USL affiliate to Boise.

Boise currently has one existing team within the USSF pyramid, the Boise FC Cutthroats of the UPSL. This team is, to my knowledge, the first team from Idaho to enter the Open Cup in decades, possibly ever. This team currently plays at Boise State University’s Dona Larsen Park, a mixed use track and field/football/soccer facility.

If the Timbers are serious about expanding to Idaho, they might find it easier to partner with this existing team, turning it into a professional affiliate of the Timbers at the D3 level and playing in that proposed new stadium. Rather than serving as a strict reserve team, I’d like to see more of an affiliation agreement, with the Timbers offering some financial support and some players on loan, but allowing the community-run team to keep their core model.

I really hope that stadium gets built.

ILLINOIS

Illinois has an interesting population distribution. Nearly 75 percent of the state’s 12 million people live in the Chicago combined statistical area. From there, another million and change live on the Illinois side of the St. Louis CSA. This means that there are not many places in Illinois with a population anywhere close to a million people.

There’s also no soccer in the pyramid that isn’t either located in Chicago, or the Illinois side of St. Louis. So, there’s not much existing stuff to base my decisions on.

That said, there are two markets that I think could work well for soccer.

Rockford
-MSA Population: 346,360
-Averaging 3,472 in AHL

Rockford is the largest city in Illinois outside of the Chicago metro area, making it a prime candidate for this project. The city is also in need of some revitalization. The population has stagnated, the economy isn’t in great shape and it’s looking like another struggling Rust Belt city. We’ve seen what Detroit City FC did to help kickstart a rebirth there, so maybe it can work here, too. There’s a fair amount of tech and aeronautics research going on there and a handful of nearby colleges, the sorts of people that would likely be interested in local soccer.

The city has provided solid support to their AHL hockey team for years, making me reasonably confident that they could draw similar crowds for professional soccer.

As for a venue, there are two ballparks that are underused lately that could either be used as is, or reconfigured with soccer in mind. Marinelli Field and Rivets Stadium can both hold around 3,000-3,500 people with a grass surface and a not-inconvenient location. It could work out pretty well. I could even see the Chicago Fire electing to put an affiliate team out there.

Springfield
-MSA Population: 211,700

Springfield is the state capital, sixth largest city and primary city in Central Illinois. The population has been growing steadily and the area is home to a host of government and medical work. There’s a fair number of college students to be found. The city also lacks any professional sports. Maybe we can change that.

Looking around, there’s only really one venue that would fit a full size soccer field, and that’s Robin Roberts Stadium located in Lanphier Park. It seats roughly 5,000, has a fully grass field and uses a similar configuration and layout to Cashman Field in Las Vegas (read: square), making it seem pretty nice for a theoretical soccer team.

INDIANA

Indiana’s sporting history has been absolutely dominated by basketball and motorsports. It’s also, like Illinois, built around one primary city which in this case is Indianapolis. So, for the sake of this project, let’s look at not competing against the Indy Eleven and find somewhere else to play some soccer.

Normally, I would look at the NPSL or PDL or whatever teams there might be in the pyramid, but in Indiana there’s really not much. We have the Indy Eleven organization, FC Indiana based out of Lafayette, a couple WPSL teams and a new UPSL team, the USAi Old Bhoys, based in Indianapolis. So, we’ll take FC Indiana for one, and we’ll do some research and find a couple of other places where a brand new team could potentially thrive.

Lafayette
-MSA Population: 201,789
-Home to FC Indiana (NPSL, UWS)
-Home to Purdue Boiliermakers (NCAA D1)

Lafayette, Ind., is home to one of the few soccer organization still operating within the pyramid outside of Indianapolis and the Eleven. FC Indiana has played in the NPSL and PASL on and off since 2000, and their women’s team is the longest continuously operating women’s team in the state. All in all, they’ve been doing many things right. And thanks to Purdue University, the area has become a hub of research and development. Right now, there’s not much going on in terms of summer sports, as the bulk of the city’s sports entertainment centers around the university. This is where I see soccer coming in.

For a venue, the current FC Indiana home of Legacy Sports Club Stadium is an adequate, if unspectacular venue. It’s not my first choice, but should they need a temporary venue, it would certainly suffice. What I would prefer is something like Purdue’s Folk Field. Despite the smaller capacity, it’s a full grass field and a much nicer-looking facility. If a bigger venue is needed, FC Indiana — or some theoretical future Lafayette-based professional soccer organization — could partner with the city on the redevelopment of Loeb Field, the local ballpark. Soccer is in the plans for the venue and the capacity of somewhere around 2,500 would be just about perfect. This might be another good partnership between a city and local soccer, and as the renovations are scheduled to be completed in 2020, it’s right in line with the expected launches of the NISA and USL D3.

My target audience for such a team would be the full-time resident students and researchers. We’ve seen how successful teams can be in college towns by focusing on the kids who stick around during the summer months, and with the number of year-round residents, there’s easily a core fan base in that 2,500 sweet spot. There’s also plenty of potential sponsors who would likely find such an endeavor appealing.

And on an almost completely unrelated note, the city’s flag game is very, very strong. Full marks.

Fort Wayne
-MSA Population: 419,453
-Averaged 5,931 in A MiLB
-Averaging 7,683 in ECHL
-Home to NCAA D1 IPFW Mastodons

Fort Wayne truly is Indiana’s second city. It’s second largest after Indianapolis, it’s got a growing, strong local economy and it’s home to several very well supported minor professional sports teams. For so many reasons, it’s a logical choice for professional soccer.

The city also once hosted the Fort Wayne Fever and currently hosts the Fort Wayne United youth soccer club, along with their semi-professional women’s team in United Women’s Soccer. The home field, Hefner Soccer Complex, is a lovely sprawling facility with more than a dozen full-size fields and a 2,000-seat stadium. This is located not too far northeast of the city core and has been used by the various youth teams as well as IPFW for years. It’s an excellent place for a D3 team to start. Should they find that venue too small, there’s a great ballpark right near Downtown: Parkview Field. Home to the Fort Wayne Tin Caps in Minor League Baseball, it seats 6,516 with room for another 1,500 or so more in grassy berms and standing areas. It’s also big enough to fit a regulation soccer field.

Fort Wayne’s biggest soccer pedigree has to be DaMarcus Beasley, who played for the Fort Wayne United organization as a child. I could see him going back home and starting a professional team there, possibly even working as a D3 affiliate of the Indy Eleven in a situation similar to what Phoenix has done with Tucson. If the fans turn out for soccer the way they do for baseball or hockey, the team will do just fine.

Evansville
-MSA Population: 314,280
-Averaging 2,491 in SPHL
-Averaged 2,230 in Frontier League baseball
-Home to Evansville Purple Aces in NCAA D1

I almost moved to Evansville in 2012. They were on my shortlist of universities before the University of Arkansas eventually offered me a “scholarship,” which sent me to Fayetteville.

Anyway, I did a lot of research on the city back when deciding universities and I remember finding this place really appealing for a whole variety of reasons. It’s on the border between really big town and small city, making it feel quaint and relaxing while still having plenty of local culture. The city itself has seen a growing white-collar economy, and the decades of declining population trend has reversed. This also extends to sports, as the city has been involved in professional sports as long as they’ve existed. In fact, the city is home to the third-oldest ballpark in America, Bosse Field, which has been around since 1915. It’s a gorgeous relic of baseball’s early traditions and is a place I’d love to someday visit.

Historic Bosse Field in Evansville, Ind. Photo credit: Rick Barth

For soccer, the city is home to a youth affiliate of the Chicago Fire, but that’s about it. There’s no PDL, NPSL, UPSL or similar presence in the city… yet. I’d like to see that changed. The city is located not too far from Louisville, Ky., and Nashville, Tenn., and I could see one of those two teams putting some sort of D3 affiliate team in the city. Nashville already has its MLS expansion franchise, so there’s a non-zero chance it might look at the Evansville market as a possible affiliate home in a few years’ time.

For a venue, my number one pick would be Bosse Field. The grandstand reminds me of the section of Providence Park where the Timbers Army stand, and I’ll jump at any opportunity to promote the use of historic venues. This could also work with a theoretical partnership between the Evansville Otters baseball team and some existing soccer team, in the same vein as the San Jose Earthquakes deal in Reno. This could also help offset some of the cost for the upcoming renovations and repairs, and also possibly solve the dispute over a long-term stadium operator.

South Bend
-MSA Population: 318,586
-Averaged 5,285 in A MiLB
-Home to Notre Dame Fighting Irish in NCAA D1

I’m not gonna lie, part of the reason for picking South Bend is to, once again, stick a soccer team in a college football stronghold. Part of the reason is that there’s a certain breed of football fan that gets deeply, deeply angry about soccer encroaching upon their territory, which amuses me endlessly, but also because the soccer culture we have in the United States borrows a lot from college football culture. There’s a good deal of overlap with fanbases, and demographically speaking, it makes sense that college football people and soccer people are pretty close to the same people. It works.

Anyway, South Bend. Right now, it doesn’t have any organized soccer within the pyramid. It actually doesn’t have much of a sporting presence outside of Notre Dame and the South Bend Cubs. That said, what it does have, it supports incredibly well.

For this team to theoretically work in South Bend, I think it would be wise to partner with the South Bend Cubs organization. The Cubs have been around in that city since 1988, they’ve been well run and well supported, and they have a very nice ballpark with a capacity of 5,000 that would work nicely for soccer. But that’s not the only venue I’m considering here. Allegedly, there’s something called the Indiana Invaders Soccer Complex, a youth soccer complex claiming (on Wikipedia) to have a 5,000-seat soccer-specific stadium. I can’t find another source for this anywhere. The team’s website is not great and the blurb lacks any citations. If this is actually the case, this place would be absolutely perfect for a professional team. If not, maybe we use the ballpark.

Or, maybe we do something different. Maybe we partner with Notre Dame to use one of its facilities. The university’s soccer stadium, Alumni Stadium, has a capacity of 3,000 or so, with 2,500 seats and a natural grass field. It has some positively gorgeous views and amenities for players, staff and fans that put some USL stadiums to shame. In my opinion, this place would be a spectacular USL D3 stadium. And considering that any soccer team in the area would absolutely, positively need to focus on college students as a key audience segment, using this stadium would maximize exposure and accessibility for the students.

And if the team is run half as well as the South Bend Cubs, it’ll sell out every game there.

Also, once again, A++ on the flag game, y’all.

IOWA

Don’t call Iowa a flyover state. One, they really hate that. Two, it’s not even that true. I’ll be the first Soc Takes member to come out and say that Iowa is cool. It’s growing into a massive hub of technology and insurance businesses, higher education and, of course, pro sports, and Iowans have been supporting the absolute hell out of everything they have access to. The state has also become a massively important hotbed of minor professional sports, with many leagues having two or even three teams within the state. That means we have several fantastic places where I believe professional soccer would do incredibly well. Let’s get to it.

Des Moines
-MSA Population: 634,725
-Averaged 7,763 in AAA MiLB
-Averaged 7,030 in IFL indoor football
-Averaging 6,013 in AHL hockey
-Home to Drake Bulldogs in NCAA D1

Iowa is one of the few states here where I knew exactly which organizations I thought would work well in D3. I’ve been watching the Des Moines Menace in the PDL from afar for a while, and I’ve always thought that they’re a real model organization for how a team at the PDL/NPSL level can successfully integrate with the community, and find an air of stability that some professional teams never achieve.

And just recently, I had the opportunity to speak with their former general manager Matt Homonoff who is now an associate commissioner with the WPSL. We spoke specifically about the Menace and their potential future at the professional level. The Des Moines Menace have been playing continuously in the USL organization since 1994. They’re older than MLS and they’re older than all but one remaining USL team. In a league which usually sees five to ten percent of teams fold at the end of each season, that longevity is nothing short of incredible. When it comes to organizations that know how to survive and thrive on a tiny budget, the Menace are the original role model.

With their current attendance and venue situation things aren’t quite right for the jump to D3 just yet, but we have heard that the team has been talking with USL D3 and evaluating what it might take to move up to the fully professional level. One of the key issues is the stadium. Right now, the Menace use a high school football field with a capacity of around 8,000. While a 3,500-strong crowd is great on paper, in that venue it’s not a fantastic atmosphere, nor is it financially sustainable. A more soccer-focused stadium with a capacity around 5,000 controlled by the Menace would be much, much better. As of right now, there aren’t any extant venues matching those specifications nor plans to build one, but we can still take a look around the city and see what else is available. And there are two venues I consider to be pretty solid choices that would work out pretty well for a theoretical professional Menace.

First up, we’re looking at another ballpark. Yeah, I’ve mentioned a lot of ballparks, and lots of people really hate putting soccer teams in ballparks, but I’m going to be a dissenting voice there. One, it allows for those venues to see more continuous usage, which makes cities and teams more willing to invest in stadium projects. And two, it’s such a uniquely American (and kind of Canadian) thing that makes our soccer teams distinct. Sort of like how Australia uses cricket pitches for Australian rules football.

Anyway, Principle Park, home to the Iowa Cubs, has a capacity of 11,500, a grass field and dimensions that can adequately accommodate a soccer field. It’s bigger than the current Menace home, but I’m imagining that if they’re drawing close to 3,000 or more at the PDL level, they’ll only improve as a fully professional team. A crowd of 5,000 or 6,000 in a ballpark of that size will still look and sound just fine, and there’s room to grow. If they want to be even more ambitious, or care very strongly about a rectangular field, they could use the football stadium at Drake University, with a capacity of 14,557 and very nice amenities. It also already includes markings for soccer. The stadium reminds me of a smaller version of Cincinnati’s Nippert Stadium, and if the team really works hard, it could easily build a level of support great enough to routinely fill it. Honestly, I think Des Moines is one of those dark horse cities that, in 5 to 10 years’ time, could be entering MLS expansion conversation.

And again, strong flag game.

Cedar Rapids
-MSA Population: 266,040
-Averaged 2,378 in A MiLB
-Averaged 2,924 in IFL indoor football
-Averaging 2,176 in USHL hockey
-Averaging 1,489 in MASL indoor soccer

Cedar Rapids literally is the corn capital of America. That’s not just a stereotype or a terrible attempt at humor, it’s the single-largest city for corn processing in the country. That’s helped turn the city into a regional economic hub, with a handful of Fortune 500 companies based there now.

As for sports, the city has been a mainstay in minor league baseball for over 100 years, with the current team having been operating continuously since 1949. The city is also getting into soccer with the Cedar Rapids Rampage in the MASL and its outdoor Rampage United in the UPSL. The team boasts a passionate, if small, fan base that’s been consistently turning out for several years now. And this organization already has experience with professional sports, be it the professional MASL team or their professional indoor football team, the Cedar Rapids Titans.

Honestly, this organization is already probably capable of D3 with very few changes. Hell, even the current venue used by the outdoor Rampage United team would work pretty well for professional soccer. Kingston Stadium, operated by the Cedar Rapids Community School District, is one of those combined football/track/soccer stadiums used by high schools, seats around 15,000 and is already used by the organization. I’d be legitimately surprised if the Rampage aren’t already in talks with the NISA to join up against the likes of Chattanooga for 2019 or 2020. Get a bit of a facelift for the stadium and you’re pretty much good to go.

Davenport (Quad Cities)
-MSA Population: 383,781
-Averaged 3,286 in A MiLB
-Averaging 3,238 in ECHL

The Quad Cities region spans across the border between Iowa and Illinois, and technically actually includes five cities. I could have filed this under Illinois, but since its largest single city is Davenport, in Iowa, it’s down here.

Anyway, the metro area has undergone some dramatic redevelopments over the past say 20 years and the economy is growing at an admirable rate. There’s also been a lengthy history of professional sports here as well. Davenport, like Cedar Rapids, is a stronghold for minor league baseball, and lately we’ve seen hockey have success in the region.

For soccer, the area recently had the Quad Cities Eagles in the NPSL, but they’ve since scaled back to a primarily youth-focused organization. Should that team decide to return to the pyramid, I’d like to see them partner with the River Bandits baseball organization, as their 4,000-seat ballpark would work nicely for soccer. It’s also been around since 1930 and has a really interesting and classic design.

I hope you’ve enjoyed Part III of Project 50/50, and I hope that the seven additional markets analyzed gives you enough additional content to overlook how supremely late this was. I’m also already well along the writing of the next installment, which will begin with the state of Kansas and end with Maryland. That one should hopefully be done in the very near future to ensure that the amount of time elapsed between this part and that part are among the shortest for the entire series.

Also, I can’t contain just how excited I am that two of the teams I hoped would make the jump up to the professional ranks have done so, with USL D3 already admitting two organizations featured in this series. I also know that several other teams I’ve discussed have been involved in these discussions, so hopefully that number continues to grow and we’ll look back on this as an oddly fortuitous look at the state of soccer in late 2017/early 2018.

Follow John on Twitter: @JohnMLTX.

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