MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER EXPANSION ATTEMPTS IN ...

MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER EXPANSION ATTEMPTS IN NORTH CAROLINA: AN

EXAMINATION OF THE SIMULTATEOUS NAVIGATION OF NATIONAL AND LOCAL

ENABLING LINKAGES THROUGH PUBLIC RELATIONS, MARKETING, AND

COMMUNICATIONS EFFORTS

Gray Player

A thesis submitted to the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial

fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Media and Communication in

the Hussman School of Journalism and Media.

2021

Approved by:

Joseph Czabovsky, PhD

Livis Freeman

Megan Rogers

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ABSTRACT

Gray Player: Major League Soccer Expansion Attempts in North Carolina: An Examination of

the Simultaneous Navigation of National and Local Enabling Linkages Through Public

Relations, Marketing, and Communications Efforts (Under the direction of Joseph Czabovsky,

PhD)

This project examines the impact of various local, regional, and national publics on Major

League Soccer expansion attempts in North Carolina. The project utilized in-depth case studies

of Raleigh and Charlotte organizations seeking expansion franchises to identify the various

entities impacting each bid process as well as each organization’s ability to identify, prioritize

and create successful relationship outcomes with those entities. Fundamental Organization-

Public Relations research and parallel studies in city/place branding provided a theoretical

background. The project demonstrates the need for organizations to build and showcase

successful and supportive relationships with local fans, the corporate community, and municipal

bodies. In particular, city government leaders are identified as the most essential and influential

enabling linkages in the expansion bid process. The project also identifies local residents’ power

to disrupt such organizational efforts affecting their community and suggests prioritizing these

relationships as early as possible through proactive communication and collaboration.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................................iv

INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................1

LITERATURE REVIEW ......................................................................................................2

PROCESS ..............................................................................................................................21

Research Questions ........................................................................................................21

Methods and Deliverables ..............................................................................................23

NORTH CAROLINA FOOTBALL CLUB...........................................................................33

CHARLOTTE FOOTBALL CLUB ......................................................................................72

ANALYSIS ............................................................................................................................95

Understanding MLS’ Expansion Criteria by Examining Successful Bids .....................95

Where Did North Carolina FC and Raleigh Get It Wrong? ...........................................125

What Did Charlotte Do Right? .......................................................................................130

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic ........................................................................132

Showing Fan and Market Support Through Leverage of Existing Assets .....................134

What’s Next for MLS .....................................................................................................137

What’s Next for Raleigh and North Carolina FC ...........................................................138

CONCLUSIONS....................................................................................................................140

REFERENCES ......................................................................................................................149

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Charlotte – Significant Soccer Matches Hosted Prior to MLS Expansion ..............135

Table 2: Cincinnati – Significant Soccer Matches Hosted Prior to MLS Expansion ............135

Table 3: Nashville – Significant Soccer Matches Hosted Prior to MLS Expansion .............136

Table 4: Sacramento – Significant Soccer Matches Hosted Prior to MLS Expansion ..........136

Table 5: St. Louis – Significant Soccer Matches Hosted Prior to MLS Expansion ..............137

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INTRODUCTION

When a new major league sports franchise is awarded to a city, whether the result of

league expansion or relocation, they inherit the task of successfully launching themselves in a

new geographic location full of unique opportunities and challenges. The successful launch of

new sports franchises includes both traditional revenue-based organizational objectives and the

goal of creating a brand that will become an iconic part of a city’s culture and identification.

Such an organizational and brand launch comes with navigating a city’s political and financial

dynamics, gaining the trust of local residents and community members, and developing an image

that reflects the discernable assets and underlying culture innate to the organization’s

community.

This thesis project examined two different soccer franchises in the state of North Carolina

that have recently gone through the type of organizational launches outlined above. One

franchise is a long-time, Triangle-based minor league organization that initiated a rebranding

campaign in December of 2016. The other is a Charlotte-based organization that quickly

introduced itself and its intentions of receiving a Major League Soccer expansion franchise in

2019. After successfully being awarded a major league franchise, they faced the task of

launching their brand identity in the Charlotte community. While the timelines of their launches

are a bit different, both organizations have faced unseen delays while attempting to cement

themselves as integral parts of their communities. The full examination of these organizations is

separated into two detailed case studies that assess the organizational strategies and

communication efforts of both teams during these times. Of particular interest were the obstacles

each organization faced, how each organization created a unique brand identity that represented

their geographic location, the strategies each organization employed to build fan support in their

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community, and the role that residents and local community members played throughout the

organization’s launch. Examination of the organizational strategies and particular

communication tactics employed during this process yields meaningful insights for business,

marketing, and public relations practitioners, specifically those that are undertaking the launch of

any brand that is fundamentally tied to its city or geographic location.

LITERATURE REVIEW

The following literature begins by examining foundational theories in the field

Organization-Public relations (OPR), including how organizations identify and build positive

relationships with their various connected entities. This section also reviews recent literature

related to “city branding” or “place branding” campaigns as a parallel to sports franchise

branding efforts based on their inherent connection with the communities that are the focus of

their branding efforts. Research of recent city/place branding campaigns details the importance

that residential inclusion may play in these campaigns as a means of securing community

approval. Finally, the review then builds its focus to examine emerging ways in which digital

technology is empowering organizations to connect with their publics through various online

platforms. Recent research of brands and their engagement with online communities, including

through popular social media channels, highlights the construct of co-creation, as well as the

impact that this type of communication could have during delays, issues and crises that an

organization may face. This proposal will lean on previously well studied and well-defined

constructs, as well as more recent research findings, to develop new insights related to expansion

sports franchises launching in a new geographic area.

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Organization-Public Relations Theory: Linkages

Public relations scholars have studied the relationships between organizations and their

related entities for over a century due to the real-world implications these realities have.

Organization’s that are launching in a new geographic location can lean on well-studied

Organization-Public Relations (OPR) theory to help inform them on how to identify, prioritize,

and effectively communicate with the multitude of entities that may have an impact on their

objectives. Hon and Grunig noted, “Relationships form because one party has consequences on

another party” (Hon & Grunig, 1999, p. 12). They further elaborated that strategic relationships

arise when organizational decisions have consequences on a “public” or when the behavior of a

public has consequences on the success of an organization (Hon & Grunig, 1999, p. 12).

“Organizations typically face multiple publics with different interests and conflicting goals.

These publics often organize into coalitions and organization enter into similar coalitions” (Hon

& Grunig, 1999, p. 12). In agreement, Heath suggested that organizations can assume that they

“have relationships with one another as well as all of the constellations of

stakeholder/stakeseeker combinations that make up the relevant fabric (network complexity and

political economy) of society” (Heath, 2013, p. 427).

These well-established findings clearly highlight that organizations launching in a new

city, such as sports franchises, need to understand and navigate their complex web of connected

entities, both internal and external, in order be accepted into the community and achieve their

organizational objectives. In order to do this successfully, Hon and Grunig suggested the crucial

first step is to utilize formal and information methods of environmental scanning to identify all

of the different types of relationships that exist (Hon & Grunig, 1999). Rawlins also classified

“identifying stakeholders” as the first critical step in this process and suggested that walking

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through this step carefully and purposefully would help organizations “avoid the anxiety of

facing and infinite number of persons who have interest in, or are affected by the organization”

(Rawlins, 2006, p. 2). Rawlins utilized an adaptation of Hon and Grunig’s “Linkage Model” to

conceptualize all the linkages between one organization and its various entities. That adapted

“Linkage Model” is shown below (Rawlins, 2006, p. 3):

Drawing from the above model, typical “enabling linkages” for an expansion franchise

would most likely include municipal leaders, local legislatures, internal and external financial

stakeholders, as well as other organizations or groups whose backing or approval is necessary for

the franchise’s organization launch. However, for expansion franchises, classifying the exact

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linkage of local residents and community members becomes a bit more complex and ambiguous.

On one hand, local fans and supporters could certainly be considered functional output linkages,

as they are the “consumers” of the sports franchise’s product and represent the largest target

group for revenue from ticket purchases. However, as their acceptance and support of the new

franchise is also crucial for its success, their role expands. If their approval and support is

“essential to the function” of the organization, this more closely resembles the criteria of

“enabling linkages” and “essential input linkages” as defined by Rawlins (Rawlins, 2006, p. 3)

Additionally, Rawlins specifically noted that local “community residents” represent diffused

linkages in this model and warned that they can become heavily involved and influential in

circumstances where an organization’s actions affect the local community – particularly if they

are perceived as negative (Rawlins, 2006, p. 4).

For expansion franchises, organizational success depends on the approval and support of

local community residents and organizations, both from a financial and emotional level. Thus,

the local community members can exist as various enabling and functional linkages. It is these

two groups that Rawlins suggested were “the most important for an organization to maintain

long-term success” (Rawlins, 2006, p. 7). Subsequent sections of this literature review will

further examine the role of residents and local community members in location-based brand

campaigns and launches, a parallel example that may serve to illuminate how expansion

franchises should approach these particular individuals as linked entities.

Organization-Public Relations Theory: Effective Outcomes

In their review of positive outcomes between organizations and their various linked

entities, Hon and Grunig asserted, “the most productive relationships in the long run are those

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that benefit both parties” rather than those that focus only one party’s goals (Hon & Grunig,

1999, p. 11). The concept of mutually beneficial relationships perhaps foreshadows the

importance of the role between location-based brands, such as new sports franchises, and their

local residents and community members. The significance of the specific relationships was given

further credence when fellow scholars Ledingham and Bruning suggested “organizational

involvement in and support of the community in which it operates can engender loyalty towards

an organization among key publics” (Ledingham & Bruning, 1998, p. 63). Further support can be

found in how these scholars operationalized successful OPR relationship outcomes over two

decades ago.

Ledingham and Bruning’s research led them to operationalize five organizational

dimensions for analyzing a public’s perceptions of their relationship with an organization: (1)

trust that the organization will do what it says it will do, (2) openness in sharing the “plans for

success” with the public members, (3) involvement in the in which it operates, (4) investment in

the community in which it operates and (5) commitment to the community in which it operates

(Ledingham & Bruning, 1998, p. 62). Working separately, Hon and Grunig operationalized

similar variables as indicators of positive relationship, including (1) control mutuality, (2) trust,

(3) satisfaction, (4) commitment, and whether a relationship could be categorized as an (5)

“exchange relationship” or a (6) “communal relationship” (Hon & Grunig, 1999). This is further

emphasized by Kelly’s identification that “stewardship” is the critical final step in relationship

management, whereas “maintenance of relationships” makes the public relations process “truly

cyclical” (Kelly, 2001, p. 2). Kelly defined “stewardship” as consisting of reciprocity,

responsibility, reporting, and relationship nurturing (Kelly, 2001).

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While these outcome variables may be more difficult to imagine for a large corporation

or a company that may have retail locations across the nation, it seems well aligned with

expansion franchises that aim to gain the approval and support of local community members. An

expansion franchise that focuses its efforts on being involved, invested and committed to the

local community should, in turn, see positive relationship outcomes for trust, openness, and a

perception of a communal relationship among residents. Kelly viewed stewardship variables

from an academic perspective in her research. However, for an expansion franchise that desires

to be embraced as defining symbol in their community, Kelly’s variables of reciprocity,

responsibility, reporting, and relationship nurturing should become real-life organizational values

that promote continual engagement and investment in their local communities.

A Real-World Examination of an Expansion Franchise’s Fans

Converting these local community members into fans and supporters of an expansion

franchise in a key organizational goal. Consequently, it’s extremely important to understand the

various motivations, attitudes, and behaviors that may exist among fans of new sports team. A

recent study of an expansion Australian Football League team investigated the “range of

antecedents and outcomes of fan connection” that existed following the team’s inaugural year of

play (McDonald et al., 2016, p. 138). A survey analyzed each individual fan’s personal

evaluation of the franchise, behavioral involvement, perception of the organization’s

involvement and commitment to the community, as well as overall public sentiment of the

franchise, among other factors (McDonald et al., 2016). An analysis of the near 1,800 survey

responses led to the finding that fans segmented, or “clustered,” themselves into five unique

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profiles each with their own distinctive perceptions, beliefs, attitudes and overall evaluations of

the team (McDonald et al., 2016, p. 141).

The cluster identified as “Instant Fanatics” were highly satisfied and involved fans,

attended or watched the highest number of games and also reported the highest mean scores for

team identification, satisfaction, loyalty, and involvement. This group constituted over 26% of

survey respondents (McDonald et al., 2016, pp. 141-142). In contrast, the “Social Theatre Goers”

cluster reported low scores for identification, commitment and loyalty, but still enjoyed watching

a high number of the team’s games. The social aspect of watching the team was the most

significant factor for them, and they were highly impacted by public perception of the team.

McDonald et al. concluded that this indicated, “increased commitment forming among them”

(McDonald et al., 2016, p. 143). Other clusters, such as “Independent Triers,” reported high

scores for private evaluation, loyalty and satisfaction with the team, making them “an obvious

target for life-long fans” (McDonald et al., 2016, p. 143. The smallest cluster identified, reported

showed infrequent consumption and non-committal attitudes, but still contributed to the overall

revenue to the team (McDonald et al., 2016, pp. 143-144).

One final cluster that is of particular interest are “Community Focused” individuals. The

exhibited second highest scores for identification, satisfaction, loyalty, and involvement and

were primarily motived by their team’s connection to their local community. They strongly

responded to the team’s involvement in Community Social Responsibility initiatives, and

McDonald et al. noted, “The support of these fans can be activated as a team unifies or blends

with the region” (McDonald et al., 2016, p. 142). This cluster is clearly impacted and motivated

primarily by the relationship that the organization has with the local community as well as their

perception of the franchise’s involvement in and commitment to the community in which they

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exist. This reflects the positive relationship outcomes (trust, commitment, communal

relationships, stewardship, etc.) that were outlined by Ledingham and Bruning, Hon and Grunig,

and Kelly in traditional OPR theory.

These findings can provide “practical insights” as to how a team could organize its

marketing efforts in order to “increase both the rate and depth of fan creation in neophyte

organisations” (McDonald et al., 2016, p. 137). McDonald et al. concluded their research with a

series of managerial suggestions for engaging, retaining, and increasing the support of each

“cluster” of fans based on their distinct characteristics. They reasoned that there is value in

organizations “recognizing and marketing accordingly” to each of the clusters’ “varying degrees

of behavioral engagement and involvement” (McDonald et al., 2016, pp. 144 – 146). They

continued, “distinctions highlighted by the profiling variables suggest differing approaches may

be successful in encouraging consistent and on-going support, despite the clearly different

pathways of initial fandom” (McDonald et al., 2016, p. 146). This real-world study of expansion

franchises provided extremely relevant findings about the various factors and degrees to which

fans can connect with a new sports organization. Additionally, the findings support the well-

established principles of Organization-Public Relations theory provided above.

City and Place Branding: Current Findings in a Parallel Field of Study

As mentioned, the study of “city branding” or “place branding” is an emerging field of

study among academic scholars and industry practitioners. Similar to an expansion franchise

launching in a new community, city-branding efforts are based on communicating an image that

reflects the unique aspects of its city and community. Although the volume of research in this

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field is limited, current findings reveal interesting and significant insights that may assist

franchises during their brand launch process.

Herstein and Berger’s examination of city-branding campaigns aimed at securing large-

scale sporting events highlighted the necessity of a city to create a brand that connected deeply

with its existent identity. They proposed that cities need to employ promotional efforts targeted

at a connecting with a city’s symbolic and associative elements during image creation (Herstein

& Berger, 2013, p. 39-42). Herstein and Berger noted that cities hosting sports events “should

create a strong connection between the city’s assets (tangible and intangible) and the specific

sports event” and “must promote and market this event as intrinsic to the city” (Herstein &

Berger, 2013, p. 43). Tangible assets include a city’s discernable scenic features like overall

architecture, marquee buildings, bodies of water, and transportation systems, while the intangible

features included a city’s culture, spirit, history and people. In fact, Herstein and Berger

specifically noted that cities should distinguish themselves through a “focus on the local

citizenry and make it their goal to raise civic pride and celebrate the residents’ traditions and

customs” (Herstein & Berger, 2013, p. 43). While there is a need for “well-conceived marketing

planning and promotion to attract as broad an audience as possible,” they concluded that it is

critical to “create a linkage between the city and the [sports] team [or event]” that make fans feel

like they are truly home (Herstein & Berger, 2013, p. 42).

In a separate study, a European research team comprised of business, economic, and

marketing academics examined several city/place branding campaigns with a specific desire to

examine the role that city residents play in the development of these communication efforts

(Braun et al., 2010, p. 12). Braun et al.’s research noted that a city’s current residents hold four

important and distinct roles in place branding and marketing efforts. They explain that a city’s

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residents are: (1) a target audience themselves of any city’s marketing or branding efforts, (2) an

integral part and asset of the city’s brand that it is trying to promote, (3) act as legitimizers of

promotional efforts and (4) can become advocates if they agree and connect with the image

being promoted (Braun et al., 2010). Braun et al. contended that current city promotional efforts

make the common mistake of focusing on solely on external audiences, which leads to blatantly

disregarding the potential contributions of community members throughout the development

process (Braun et al., 2010, pp. 4-5). They argued against this “top-down” approach, noting that

a city’s “values, its propositions, and all measures that communicate the brand must have the

agreement, support and assistance of local people in order to be effectively developed” (Braun et

al., 2010, p. 9).

Additionally, they provided a warning of the destructive implications of avoiding current

residents during this process by outlining previous city branding and promotional efforts that did

not successfully include input from their residents. The result was actually a local rejection of

these campaigns all together, where some groups of local citizenries even implemented their own

“counter-branding” campaigns (Braun et al., 2010, p. 9). Notable examples of this phenomenon

are Amsterdam’s “I Amsterdam” campaign and residential counter-campaign “I

Amsterdamned,” as well as Birmingham’s “Be Birmingham” campaign and residential counter-

campaign, “Birmingham: It’s not shit!” (Braun et al., 2010, p. 9). These examples showed the

negative consequences, including outright rejection, when residents are “left out of the decision

making and brand development process” (Braun et al., 2010, p. 10). Braun et al. conceded that

campaign development that allows for residents’ participation may be challenging and take more

time, but that “strengthening communication between the resident’s and the city’s officials”

ultimately produces residential “legitimization” which is the “crucial first step for a successful

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strategy and shared vision” (Braun et al., 2010, pp. 10-11). Braun et al. concluded that creating

an effective, successful place-branding campaign that reflects the true narrative of their city and

is embraced by its residents “is impossible without the participation of the residents in all its

stages,” and noted that residents that accept a campaign will go “beyond their ‘normal’ duties of

a citizen” to act as a brand-ambassador for campaigns they agree with (Braun et al., 2010, pp.

11-13).

These two studies have noted that a city’s local residents play a make-or-break role in a

city’s promotional/branding efforts, and they argue for their inclusion into the creation of the

brand image. More significantly, they stipulate that resident’s participation in the creation of

promotional and branding efforts is critical to the process and ultimate success of a campaign.

Traditionally, municipal leaders have taken on these efforts themselves, but as noted, this can

have disastrous outcomes for a campaign. While these researchers argue that local residents may

be the greatest impact on a campaign, it is important to note that there are a wealth of

groups/entities that must identified, considered, and possibly consulted during the development

of a city or place branding campaign.

How Organizations Can Create a Brand that Connects with its City

The launch of a franchise’s brand identity – including aesthetic dynamics, color

combinations, primary and secondary logos, and uniform design – represents an essential, and

highly anticipated, milestone for any new sports team. A review of the findings of city-branding

research has shown that local fans want to feel the connection that a team truly represents their

city. Herstein and Berger emphasized a need for city-based brands to reflect the symbolic and

associative elements of its location. A successful brand would reflect not only the unique scenic

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features of a city but also the intrinsic and intangible features of a city’s spirit, culture and

people. Both the studies of Herstein and Berger and Braun et al. argued the need for residential

and local community inclusion to ultimately produce a brand image that a city can accept and

embrace as their own.

Janković and Jakšić-Stojanović noted, “A sports brand as a holistic sum of many different

elements represents a unique and identifiable symbol of a sports organization which makes it

different from its competitors” (Janković & Jakšić-Stojanović, 2019, p. 76). They conclusively

stated that “the future of marketing belongs to emotional branding” – efforts that connect

emotionally and psychologically with consumers – and that “provoking true emotion of

consumers is the best investment a company can make” (Janković & Jakšić-Stojanović, 2019, p.

78). They suggested that an organization should select a name with symbolism, association with

the brand and community’s culture, and good communicative potential, and that its logo should

symbolize an organization’s core values and communicate the credibility of the brand it

represents (Janković & Jakšić-Stojanović, 2019, p. 76). Adding an effective brand slogan,

representing the mission and essence of the brand, can have an almost hypnotic effect due to its

frequent repetition and can even lead to subconscious acceptance of its communication of brand

value (Janković & Jakšić-Stojanović, 2019, p. 76). They cited that FC Barcelona have held the

same official slogan, “More from the Club,” since their inception in 1899, which reflects the

club’s commitment to the community and its fans (Janković & Jakšić-Stojanović, 2019, p. 76).

Similarly, Liverpool Football Club’s slogan, “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” has been incorporated

into the team’s official crest and is traditionally sung by Liverpool FC supporters during every

games – it is also a habitually trending hashtag on social media (Jonze, 2021).

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While this literature review has introduced multiple considerations, specifically for

expansion franchise branding efforts, there are additional growing challenges facing the sports

industry as a whole. Janković and Jakšić-Stojanović noted that because the interest in sports

continues to grow, and the demographics of the consumers of sports has already significantly

shifted, the specific marketing approaches that sports organizations utilize is more important than

ever before (Janković & Jakšić-Stojanović, 2019, p. 75). They asserted that the most important

consideration in an organization’s brand development process is understanding the multitude of

audiences that it will attract, as well as the various demographic and psychographic factors that

motivate these consumers. Each “target group” will demand a unique marketing approach

(Janković & Jakšić-Stojanović, 2019, p. 75 – 76). Bishop offered a similar assessment when he

noted that fans used to build “relationships with teams from the same degree of connection they

felt to their neighborhoods,” but that the “mass production of goods featuring team logos” has

changed the nature of the fan-team relationship, making it possible for fans with a myriad of

levels of allegiance to have some degree of connection with a team (Bishop, 2001, p. 40). This is

supported by the findings of “clustering,” even among fans of the same expansion franchise, as

outlined earlier in the literature review.

A new sports organization is launching into an established marketplace while also

attempting to deliver a name/logo/design that incorporates the tangible and intangible factors that

are specific to its city. Sawhney and Prahalad noted that “design is a fundamental part of creating

an image and experience of luxury, exclusivity, and tribal belonging” (Sawhney & Prahalad,

2010). It becomes clear that when creating a successful expansion franchise identity, the

organization must rely on design that not only communicates a business or organizational

offering to consumers but that also “[does] far more…[by] help[ing] companies connect and

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establish a dialogue with consumers” (Sawhney & Prahalad, 2010). As Sawhney and Prahalad

note, “good designers” lean on their understanding of “consumer's thought process and

emotions” in order to synthesize a product (logo, name, jersey design, etc.) that is not simply

functional, but truly motives consumers’ behavior (Sawhney & Prahalad, 2010). Sawhney and

Prahalad concluded by suggesting that only when organizational leaders work hand-in-hand with

these designers who “explore without limitation” consumer psychology, that they are jointly able

to “create new business opportunities and the pathways to manifest consumer needs, emotions,

and aspirations.” The final two sections of this literature review examine both the methods and

positive impact organizational dialogue with consumers that Sawhney and Prahalad champion in

their research.

Online Brand Communities: The Proven Utility of Co-Creation

The literature reviewed so far has identified that community residents, organizations, and

local companies are themselves a clandestine reflection of a city’s intangible qualities that should

be reflected in a location-based brand. Additionally, research has also suggested that the

inclusion of these individuals at multiple stages is vital to the success of any location-based

branding campaign, which is supported (if not predicted) by decades of well-established theories

in organization-public relations research. The next question that brand campaign managers

would ask is, “What is the best way to include local community members in the various steps of

this process?” Traditional qualitative methods, such as in-person focus groups and in-depth

telephone interviews, are still the industry go-to. However, digital technologies are quickly

changing the landscape of data collection with online methods such as web-scrapping and social

media mining. Brands are already conducting research via on-line platforms, such as Facebook,

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Instagram, and Twitter, to explore branding strategies that are utilizing customers’ involvement

and engagement with brands (Heinonen & Medberg, 2018, p. 661). This type of text-analysis can

capture attitudes, beliefs, opinions, and other significant dialogue, presenting an opportunity for

brand managers to gain unique insights and identify themes that may help shape their campaigns

(Hair, Jr. et al., 2020, p. 192-208).

Heinonen and Medberg propose organizations go one step beyond simple social media

monitoring and immersing themselves in online communities. This practice, defined as

netnography, can be useful for identifying, communicating with, and building relationships with

key constituents (Heinonen & Medberg, 2018, p. 670). This type of online research is more cost-

effective than conducting traditional focus groups or interviews, and it offers the ability to

complete longitudinal studies that can observe or even solicit constituents’ thoughts and feelings

“on a particular subject over longer periods at different points in time” (Hair, Jr. et al., 2020, p.

214). Perhaps most importantly, Heinonen and Medberg note, “As the internet has grown in

importance as a platform for interaction and dialogue between customers and firms, netnography

has also provided to be useful research method for studying and understanding the phenomenon

of co-creation,” defined as customer participation in the development of a particular product or

offering (Heinonen & Medberg, 2018, p. 663). In fact, additional research shows that many well-

established, industry leading organizations, such as Unilever, Dell, and Nokia are already

implementing such co-creational efforts. The findings imply that consumer contributions to the

development of a new product naturally yield better market outcomes (McEleny, 2010). For

example, Dell has created an online community, called “IdeaStorm,” where consumers can

submit ideas for new products, many of which have been implemented and have received a

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“warm reception from consumers because they’ve helped to launched it” (McEleny, 2010, p. 2-

3).

Research shows that consumer “fan communities” are already requesting dialogue with

organizations through social media, regardless of the organizations’ position on co-creation

(Hatch & Schultz, 2010, p. 600). According to Lucas Oliver, head of CRM at British-based

global fashion retailer NewLook, social media has created a natural trend that is shifting power

away from the brands themselves and towards the consumers. He suggests brands meet this shift

head on and “reward [consumers] for their engaging directly [with organizations]” (McEleny,

2010, p. 2). This shift in power signals an evolution in brand management, where consumers “are

both given and take control of brand meaning and ultimately the value(s) it brings to the

organization” (Hatch & Schultz, 2010, p. 603). Individuals within these online “brand

communities” offer their enthusiasm, valuable ideas and opinions and offer a significant resource

for organizations that wish to utilize co-creational efforts. Thus, it is not surprise that there is “a

growing interest on the part of companies in opening multiple channels of engagement” with

these brand communities (Hatch & Schultz, 2010, p. 600-603).

The idea of brand management evolving into a “mutual exchange” relationship between

brand managers and consumers should actually bring a degree of comfort to new sports

organizations. New franchises are already dependent on residents and community members to

provide a reflection of their city for branding design intelligence, and those community members

are also integral to an organization’s brand creation process and its ultimate approval. Online

brand communities offer an opportunity to engage in significant dialogue and solicit feedback

from these highly involved and incredibly important individuals. New sports franchises should

utilize these emerging communications communities to gain insights on consumer attitudes and

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beliefs, build relationships with better outcomes, and create a natural channel for the co-creation

the best possible location-based brand identity.

Online Brand Communities: Buffering Negative Outcomes

Another interesting component of organization-online brand community communication

is that is has been shown, in some instances, to reduce negative impact of crises and issues

among organizational supporters. Brand managers would certainly want to avoid the kind of

wide-spread community rejection and counter-campaign creation, outlined in Braun et al.’s

examination of city-branding efforts. Another example would be a delay or postponement in the

organizational launch date. Companies of all sizes, and in all industries, utilize

“preannouncements” as a strategic marketing tool to increase product awareness and build

desire. Recent research has shown that organizational engagement with online brand

communities in co-creational efforts actually lessens the negative impact when a product launch

delay is announced (Herm, 2013).

The preannouncement of a product launch can build excitement among consumers, but it

also creates a “psychological contract” in the minds of those consumers. Rousseau defines a

psychological contract as "an individual’s beliefs regarding the terms and conditions of a

reciprocal exchange agreement between that focal person and another party” (Rousseau, 1989, p.

123). Psychological contract formation is not unique to product launch delays. It has been

studied multiple fields and industries, and new sports franchises should consider how their

actions create such expectations of exchange among their local community members and

organizations. A study of the negative impact that a product launch delay may have on a brand

showed interesting findings among consumers that were engaging with that brand in an online

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community (Herm, 2013). A group of laptop users from an online community were told about

the fictitious product launch of a new MacBook Pro, and then half were subsequently told there

would be a delay in the launch of the new Apple product. Survey results showed that brand trust

was most heavily lost among consumers with a newer relationship with Apple (one standard

deviation less than the average length of participants), while there was statistically significant

protection against loss of brand trust among consumers with an intermediate (about average

length) or older (more than one standard deviation above of the average) relationship length with

the Apple brand (Herm, 2013, p. 77). Reviewing these results, Herm concluded that “brand trust

declines more after a launch delay in an earlier phase of a consumer-brand relationship than it

does in a later phase” and that the length of a relationship with a brand may “shield against brand

trust [loss] and elicit consumers’ forgiveness” (Herm, 2013, p. 78-79). These findings stress the

importance for an organization to quickly build relationships with all of its various linked entities

upon entering the public arena.

Subsequent research has also shown that relationships built between organizations and

online brand communities can actually serve as a buffer against the negative impacts of an

ineffective or harmful product crisis. A study of consumer responses to the well-known Samsung

Galaxy Note 7 battery crisis showed that organizational online brand community engagement

(OBCE) had a direct and positive correlation to both consumer forgiveness and repurchase

intention (Yuan et al., 2020, p. 43). This supported Yuan et al.’s hypothesis that “customers who

engage with a brand on social media brand communities develop emotional bonds and… better

relationships with the brand,” which would foster greater levels of consumer forgiveness and

ultimately repurchase intention (Yuan et al., 2020, p. 39-41). Prior to their study, the prevailing

thought was that the best method for regaining consumer trust after a crisis was through direct,

20

resolute PR campaigns aimed at communicating the organizational efforts to resolve the conflict.

In this survey of Samsung community members, online brand community engagement was

actually a stronger predictor of forgiveness and repurchase intentions than exposure to

Samsung’s vigorous PR efforts (Yuan et al., 2020, p. 43). Yuan et al. acknowledged that online

brand community engagement (OBCE) creates loyalty and fosters customer forgiveness during

such a crisis but also noted that “brand efforts in engaging customers in online communities” can

create relationships with impacts that are “beyond direct measurable outcomes” (Yuan et al.,

2020, p. 43). The research implies there are positive impacts beyond measurable relationships

outcomes and that brand managers should devote “more resources to foster consume engagement

with online brand communities” in every-day operation, not just in response to a crisis (Yuan et

al., 2020, p. 45).

While Samsung’s “product-harm” crisis is much different than the product launch delay

of a hypothetical new Apple MacBook line, these studies show the potential for significant

impact in relational outcomes when organizations engage in communication with online brand

communities and co-creational networks. These practices can build trust, openness, and the

consumer perception of control mutuality – all positive relationship measures identified by OPR

scholars. It is also known that some of the largest brands in the world are embracing this type of

communication in order to solicit consumer input, which ultimately leads to products that are

more well received once they reach market. Lastly, research also shows that communication and

engagement with online brand communities, especially in combination with co-creational efforts,

builds loyalty and fosters relationships that are stronger than the negative effects caused by crises

that can arise.

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PROCESS

The literature review offered findings about the prioritization of various linked publics

and organizations, the segmentation of fans and their various modes of connecting with a new

sports franchise, the city or place features that should be the focus of creating a brand identity,

the suggestion of residential inclusion in the branding process, and the potential power of

organizational communication with online brand communities. Considering these findings in the

context of examining and assessing how an expansion sports franchise can successfully launch in

a new city presented multiple questions of interest. This project sought to examine how

organizations prioritize relationship-forming efforts among various publics, groups, and

coalitions and how that hierarchical prioritization may change over time. In particular, this

project was interested in the communication tactics that these organizations utilize to develop fan

support among local community members and how insights from these efforts then inform

broader communication strategies. Additionally, the project desired to study organizational

processes for creating a brand image that connects with its respective city. The project more

intensively sought to examine how organizations’ communications with residents and

community members contributed to developing organizational brand identities. Finally, the

project pursued an understanding of organizational approaches towards specific communication

connected to mitigating negative outcomes, such as delays and setbacks, as well as identify how

successful these efforts were in retaining local community and fan support.

Research Questions

In this vein, this project sought to answer the following RQs:

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RQ 1: How can sports organizations best communicate and build relationships with key publics

as they enter a new geographic space?

RQ 1a: How can sports organizations identify and prioritize the various connected

entities (publics, other organizations, coalitions, etc.) in their geographic area?

RQ 1b: What methods did the organizations use to build relationships with these entities

throughout their organizational launch process?

RQ1c: How did these organizations’ communication efforts change during various stages

of the launch process in order to meet the shifting prioritization of linked entities?

RQ1d: What communication methods and strategies did each organization use to

connect with residents and local community members to develop overall community

support?

RQ 2: How can a sports franchise create a brand identity that connects with its city?

RQ 2a: How did each organization approach the branding process, and which key

publics did they consult or include in the branding development, based on the public-

facing communication audit?

RQ 2b: What key tangible or intangible elements of each organization’s geographic area

did they draw upon to create a cultural identity specific to their location?

RQ 2c: What was the public response to each of the sport franchise’s brand identities, as

apparent through public communication channels?

RQ 3: What are the best practices identified from each of these organizations that can be taken

away from their respective communication approaches towards announcing delays and setbacks?

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Methods and Deliverables

In order to investigate these outlined research questions, this project conducted in-depth

case studies of the organizational launches of both North Carolina Football Club and Charlotte

Football Club. A case study is defined as an investigative method focused on “a contemporary

phenomenon within its real-life context” (Yin, 1994, p. 13). The organizational launches of both

these franchises are impacted by innumerable coexisting factors, occurring in a changing market

environment and intrinsically tied to, and influenced by, external factors specific to their

geographic locations. In other words, the organizational launches most certainly cannot be

separated from their contexts, and Yin asserts that, in such situations, a case study is ideal

because it allows for implementation of a “comprehensive research strategy” (Yin, 1994, p. 13).

Case studies also offer the distinct advantages of hindsight (retrospective analysis), allowing for

a more fully comprehensive research strategy to conduct analysis (Stacks, 2017, p. 182).

The in-depth case studies of North Carolina FC and Charlotte FC provided the

opportunity to cross-examine certain organization’s strategic efforts. The case studies examined

the organizations’ pertinent interactions with their respective municipalities, conducted a

communication audit of all strategic tactics and target audiences, compared each organization’s

process for creating a brand image and the resulting assets, and categorized any discernable

outputs, such as the response of local community members throughout these various events. Of

particular observational interest was the methods utilized by each franchise to develop support

among residents and other important local community organization/publics, as well as each

organization’s level of communication with those individuals, including social media. Finally,

this project examined how North Carolina FC and Charlotte FC maintained and continued to

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build public support in the face of organizational setbacks – including failed MLS expansion

attempts in 2017 for both franchises and the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This detailed cross-examination of case studies successfully identified common themes

that contributed to organizational success, contextual differences within the respective

geographic locations, unique tactics employed by each organization to build community,

corporate and fan support, and the challenges and outcomes of relationship building efforts from

each of the organizations.

Thus, the project prepared a detailed case study review on each of the following two professional

sports franchises. A detailed outline of the particular events, organizational efforts, and outcomes

examined by each case study is listed as follows:

NORTH CARLINA FOOTBALL CLUB

Organizational Overview

The Triangle area of North Carolina boasts a strong history of representation in both

men’s and women’s professional soccer. In the early 2000s it was home to one of the eight teams

in the Women’s United Soccer Association – the first women’s league in the world to pay all its

players as professionals (North Carolina FC, 2017a). While various men’s teams played in the

area since the 90s, an official expansion franchise in the second division of US soccer was

awarded to the triangle in 2006 (CAROLINA RAILHAWKS, n.d.; Hines, 2020). The team has

played in a 10,000-seat, soccer-specific stadium, in Cary, North Carolina that has also hosted

multiple collegiate championship tournaments, international soccer exhibition matches, and

United States National Team matches (North Carolina 2016c; North Carolina 2018j). The men’s

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franchise, the Carolina Railhawks, was purchased by local business owner Steve Malik in

October 30 of 2015, who over the next year began announcing his ambitions to transition the

team to a Major League Soccer franchise that would play in a much larger downtown Raleigh

venue (North Carolina FC, 2015b).

On December 6, 2016 the organization revealed a bold team re-brand to North Carolina

Football Club, and Malik officially declared his intentions to win one of the next two MLS

expansion franchises (Pierno, 2016e). Moving swiftly to make the organization more attractive to

Major League Soccer, Malik added a women’s professional franchise and a 14,000-player youth

Academy to the organizational portfolio, and in July of 2017 revealed designs for a 22,000-seat

stadium in the heart of downtown Raleigh (North Carolina FC, 2017a; North Carolina, 2017c;

North Carolina, 2017s). While the organization seemed well positioned to receive one of the two

MLS expansion franchises to be announced in December of 2017, an inability to secure the

downtown stadium-site from the state government ultimately left North Carolina FC outside of

the four finalist cities announced by MLS (DeCock, 2017c).

While disappointed, Malik and the NCFC organization pushed on, with the women’s

team dominating the national stage and their men’s team continuing to enjoy success in the

second division of US Soccer (NC Courage, 2017b; NC Courage, 2019a NC Courage, 2019b;

North Carolina FC, 2017w; North Carolina FC, 2017y; North Carolina FC, 2019d). Malik has

continued his devotion to finding a more attractive, urban-based home for both teams, and in

early 2019 turned his sights on a location just south of downtown Raleigh that would include a

soccer-specific stadium as part of a massive $2 billion development project that would create a

permanent home for their title-winning women’s team and second-division men’s team (Eanes,

2019d). The new stadium would provide Malik the desired urban location, as well as easy access

26

to highways for fans all around the area, keeping the possibility of MLS expansion open (Eanes,

2019d). However, the development faced significant concerns from community members and

local residents while attempting to acquire initial approval from Raleigh’s city council (Johnson,

2020a; Sánchez-Guerra, 2020b). In response, the organization and developers conducted multiple

community outreach efforts and added members to its team to specifically address the

community concerns (Johnson, 2020c; Sánchez-Guerra, 2020b). It eventually gained the

necessary city council approval for rezoning in late 2020, and ownership has remained focused

on the successful implementation project while its men’s and women’s professional teams and

North Carolina FC Youth teams continue to represent the organization on various levels of

national soccer competitions (Johnson, 2020d; North Carolina FC, 2021).

Case Study Deliverables

The case study first studied the events leading up to the franchise’s new ownership takeover in

October 2015, and then examined the new ownership’s subsequent promotional and

communications efforts through the official rebranding announcement in December 2016,

including but not limited to:

• Official communications and announcements related to local municipalities or partner

organizations;

• Communications strategies directed toward current and new fans of the franchise;

• Subsequent promotional and communications efforts leading up to and including the

official announcement of the team’s rebranding;

• Any available output data of community and public reaction to these announcements,

efforts or campaigns.

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The case study also focused on the franchise’s official rebranding announcement and launch of

its new name, logo, and other branding elements, including but not limited to:

• The events of the brand launch and official reveal;

• An examination of the team’s developed brand identity;

o An overall examination of the design aesthetics;

o Elements utilized to create an identity that connects with the city and local

community members;

o The inclusion of local residents and community members in this development

process;

• Any available output data of post-announcement public reaction efforts;

• Additional communications from the organization related to the branding effort.

The case study then examined the franchise’s various promotional and communications efforts

following its official re-branding to North Carolina FC, as well as organizational efforts to

strengthen the franchise’s MLS bid, promotional and communications efforts including the

downtown Raleigh rally, and organizational obstacles that the expansion bid faced until it was

excluded from the selected finalists in December 2017. This is included, but was not limited to:

• Official team online and social media communication and other promotional efforts to

convert current fans and foster additional community support for the new North Carolina

Football Club brand;

• Organizational activities and communications among various entities to strengthen

support for its MLS expansion bid;

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• Communications and promotional efforts directed toward developing fan and community

support during the build-up to the July downtown Raleigh rally, and during the event

itself, and in the weeks immediately following the event;

• The franchise’s organizational communications efforts among various key publics during

the legislative push-back to the stadium plan through the ultimate failure of the MLS

expansion bid.

Finally, the case study examined the franchise’s promotional and communications efforts,

community reactions to being left out of the four expansion finalists in 2017 and how they

sustained momentum into 2018 and 2019. The case study inspects the various factors

surrounding the decision to pivot to a new stadium site in 2019, as well as the challenges and

organizational responses among community residents surrounding that location. This included,

but was not limited to:

• Organizational communication related to mitigating any negative impact of not receiving

an MLS expansion franchise;

• Any available output data of fan and public reactions to the failed MLS bid;

• Communications and promotional efforts aimed at maintaining the support of current

fans and mitigating the disappointment of the failed MLS expansion bid;

• Identification and analysis of official promotional and communications efforts employed

consistently over the past two years, as well as major changes in strategies and tactics;

• All public-facing communication campaigns or strategies aimed at generating support for

the Downtown South initiative, their various target audiences, and any output data for

success;

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• Any and all public-facing communication from the franchise related to the COVID-19

pandemic and social justice movements during the spring/summer of 2020

CHARLOTTE FOOTBALL CLUB

Organizational Overview

Charlotte’s newly minted MLS franchise, Charlotte FC, offered an organizational journey

that was quite different from North Carolina Football Club. Charlotte’s expansion franchise

launched their own brand in the summer of 2020, although they did so while having the distinct

differentiation of already having secured an MLS expansion franchise, which is set to kick-off

league play in spring 2022 (Andrejev, 2022c; Bogert, 2019d; Charlotte FC, 2020z). Various

ownership groups in the Charlotte area had made previous attempts to secure an MLS franchise

for the city; most notably an attempt in 2017 by the Charlotte Motor Speedway ownership group

that was ultimately unable to reach an agreement with city and county official on a private-public

financing (Peralta & Portillo, 2017). However, city council members always remained hopeful

that they could acquire an expansion franchise as MLS continued to expand, and success arrived

in 2019 via the backing of the city’s new NFL team owner, David Tepper (Bogert 2019d; Peralta

& Portillo, 2017). Tepper’s significant financial worth, strategic organizational additions, and

backing from city officials ultimately secured an MLS expansion franchise in December of 2019

(Bogert, 2019d; Kuznitz et al., 2019; Newton, 2018; Peralta, 2018).

The organization began its operations by creating a robust community engagement team

and publishing articles and multiple video series directed at educating and engaging fans as well

as connecting with local influencers and national soccer pundits (Charlotte FC, 2020a; Charlotte

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FC, 2020b; Charlotte FC, 2020c; Charlotte FC, 2020d; Charlotte Football Club, n.d.). The

organization shifted their community and fan engagement to connecting with the local

community amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and “Black Lives Matter” movements (Bailey,

2020b; Bailey, 2020c; Charlotte FC, 2020e). The pandemic and social justice movements would

ultimately postpone both their official branding release and MLS debut season (Andrejev, 2020b;

Andrejev, 2020c). The team did announce its official name, crest and colors on July 22nd via a

live reveal on social media (Charlotte FC, 2020z). Team news, including academy related

information, staff appointments, and additional content features have continued to be released via

the team’s official website and social media accounts in subsequent months (Charlotte Football

Club, n.d.).

Case Study Deliverables

The case study examined the Charlotte franchise’s development, promotional and

communications efforts from initial planning to the official announcement of the franchise in

December 2019. This included, but was not limited to:

• All ownership and organizational activities, and the various entities prioritized during the

development of a formal expansion bid;

• Official communications and announcements related to local municipalities or partner

organizations;

• Subsequent promotional and communications efforts leading up to and including the

official announcement of being awarded an expansion franchise;

• Any available output data of community and public reactions efforts relating to these

announcements, efforts or campaigns.

31

The case study then focused on the franchise’s various communication efforts following the

franchise announcement and through the beginning of 2020 as they built their brand. This

included, but was not limited to:

• Identification and analysis of official franchise online communications, including social

media tactics, designed to develop fan support;

• Identification and analysis of community engagement efforts designed to develop the

perception of Corporate Social Responsibility;

• Any available output data of community and public reaction to these announcements,

efforts or campaigns.

The case study then examined the franchise’s various public relations, community outreach and

communications efforts during the summer of 2020 related to the COVID-19 pandemic and

Black Lives Matter Movements. This included, but was not limited to:

• Any and all public-facing communication from the franchise, especially as it relates to

these topics;

• The official announcement of Charlotte’s postponement of its MLS debut until the start

of the 2022 season;

• Any available output data of community and public reactions to the announcement of the

team’s delayed debut;

• Subsequent organizational communication related to mitigating any negative impact of

announcing the delayed debut date.

The case study also examined the franchise’s branding campaign and launch of its official name,

logo, and other branding elements during that same period. This included, but was not limited to:

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• An examination of the organizational campaign and public response during the build-up

to the official announcement on July 22, 2020;

• The events of the brand launch and official reveal;

• An examination of the team’s developed brand identity, via:

o An overall examination of the design aesthetics;

o Elements utilized to create an identity that connects with the city and local

community members;

o The inclusion of local residents and community members in this development

process;

• Any available output data of post-announcement public reactions;

• Additional communications from the organization related to the branding effort.

Finally, the case study examined the franchise’s communication efforts, community engagement

activities, or any other organization-public interactions that occurred after the official branding

reveal and into the current year. This included, but was not limited to:

• Communication efforts and tactics designed to continue to develop fan support;

• Communication efforts aimed at developing community relationships and strategic

decisions about the prioritization of those entities;

• Any available output data gauging the level of public and community support and how

that compares to the previous phases of the organizational launch.

33

North Carolina Football Club

34

Ownership: Abandon to Arrival

Only a few years before it would become a contender for a Major League Soccer

expansion franchise, North Carolina FC was an afterthought in both the national soccer

conversation and the local community. The triangle-area of North Carolina has long held some

presence in the soccer world, as men’s and women’s professional teams have competed in the

area since the 1990s, a wealth of nationally recognized youth soccer programs exists, and a

dynastic women’s soccer program is hosted at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill

that birthed national sports figures like Mia Hamm (Hines, 2020; Lohse, 2000; North Carolina

FC, 2017a; North Carolina FC Youth, n.d.;). However, from its inception in 2006 as the

“Carolina Railhawks” through the first nine years of its existence, the organization hovered in

mediocracy of second-division professional soccer as home attendance averaged less than half of

the 10,000-seat capacity of the team’s home at Wake Med Soccer Park (CAROLINA

RAILHAWKS, n.d.; North Carolina FC, n.d.).

The malaise that the organization had fallen into was shaken in May of 2015 when the

owner of the Railhawks and president of multi-national sports marketing conglomerate, Traffic

Sports USA, Aaron Davidson was arrested on charges that included wire fraud, racketeering and

money laundering in connection with a global soccer conspiracy that included offering hundreds

of millions of dollars in bribes to acquire the marketing rights to some of the largest soccer

contests in North America (Blake & Kenney, 2015). News of the charges, coupled with a same-

day loss to the team’s rival Charlotte-based team, the Charlotte Independence, in the U.S. Open

Cup culminated in what local sports reporter Neil Morris called “arguably the darkest day in

Railhawks history” (Morris, 2015a). However, for loyal fans of the team like Jarrett Campbell,

president of the supporters’ group, Triangle Soccer Fanatics, it only served to highlight the

35

grievances that had been voiced with Traffic Sports USA for years. Campbell acknowledged that

Traffic Sports USA saved the team by purchasing it when it was on the brink of dissolution in

2009, but he stressed that since then, “[Traffic Sports USA ownership has] maintained the status

quo for five years… we’ve stayed stagnant while the rest of the country’s soccer teams grow”

(Pierno, 2015a). Campbell had been calling for a committed, local ownership group for years,

“We really need someone to invest in the team that is committed to the local RDU community

and has a vision for soccer here. … Soccer, at its core, is a community sport, it’s about the town

and the people … the right resources have to be put into place for it to work and we’ve never

seen that from Traffic” (Pierno, 2015b). The Triangle Soccer Fanatics began waging a public

attack against Traffic USA ownership that included creating an official “Traffic Out” website,

selling “Traffic Out” t-shirts online, and holding up related signs during games in protest (Pierno,

2015b; Triangle Soccer Fanatics, 2015a; Triangle Soccer Fanatics, 2015b).

While The Triangle Soccer Fanatics were gaining exposure for their efforts, including a

full story by The New York Times, team manager Curt Johnson could only offer vague comments

about a “mix of prospective owners,” and Wells Thompson relayed the players’ uncertainty

saying, “We just kind of kick the ball… Obviously we’re thinking about the situation, and we’re

concerned about it, but you can only control so much” (Pierno, 2015a; Ruiz, 2015). The

organization was truly at a sense of abandon. Then came a tweet from the official RailHawks

account on the evening before the last game of the season. It was positioned in the middle of

several promotional tweets for game-day activities, but its message was much more distinct:

“IMPORTANT OWNERSHIP ANNOUNCEMENT” in all caps (North Carolina FC, 2015a).

Steve Malik, a North Carolina native and local medical health entrepreneur, was announced as

the new team owner in a press conference that was live streamed on YouTube and local sports

36

radio (North Carolina FC, 2015b). As a local business owner connected to the Triangle, a

background of playing and coaching youth soccer, and a strongly expressed commitment to

investing in the team and organization, Malik checked all the boxes for what fans had been

longing for (North Carolina FC, 2015b). He immediately expressed his top priorities of

developing relationships in the community, growing the local fan base, gaining corporate

sponsorship, and investing capital to put the best possible product on the field (Morris, 2015b;

North Carolina FC, 2015b). In the interviews following his announcement, Malik declared his

commitment to the team and the community. He definitively stated, “I’m in it for the long run”

and added that he believed the Triangle-area “has a lot of potential for soccer” that he wanted to

see achieved (Blake, 2015). A committed local owner that fans had long desired was now in

place, and in subsequent interviews Malik made it clear that his intentions were to take the

franchise to “the highest level of soccer,” adding a declaration that “… we’re going to

continually get better as an organization and reach the potential the Triangle has for soccer.”

(Blake, 2015; Morris, 2015b).

Investing Capital in the Team and Creating a Better Game-Day Experience

In the first few months following his takeover, Steve Malik followed through on his

declared commitment to “spend whatever it takes to win” (Morris, 2015b). This was signaled

with the multi-year signing of Ty Shipalane at his inaugural press conference (Morris, 2015b).

Prior to the next season in the spring of 2016 kick-off, the RailHawks successfully signed twelve

new prospects to their roster and re-signed eight key players, including captain Connor Tobin

(Blake & Pierno, 2016). Tobin voiced his excitement about the progress the organization was

making in an open letter to fans:

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I feel like there is nothing but exciting times ahead for the club. The new season is quickly

approaching, and I could not be more upbeat. On every front the club is moving forward.

Every player that the club has signed not only has ability but has strong character as

well. The front office has expanded and is doubling down on their efforts in the

community. The fans, lead by the Triangle Soccer Fanatics and Oak City Supporters,

have a buzz about them going into the new year. I am just lucky to be involved.

(North Carolina FC, 2016e)

Malik also gave the organization a new, impressive headquarters by moving operations into a

large office space in Cary with the medical health corporation he owned (Medfusion, 2016).

Following Malik’s initiative, the RailHawks also began a flurry of marketing, sales, and

fan-related initiatives during the off-season. The team began aggressively marketing its

upcoming 10th Anniversary season, crafting special 10th Anniversary jerseys for the season, and

offering creative season ticket packages such as group and on-field seating options, all with a

litany of extra perks (North Carolina FC, 2016a; North Carolina FC, 2016d; North Carolina FC,

2016f; North Carolina FC, 2016i; North Carolina FC, 2016l). The team also announced a set of

extensive upgrades to improve the game-day experience for fans, including enhanced Wi-Fi

throughout the soccer park, new stadium aesthetics to change a generic look into one that better

reflected the team’s branding, a beer garden featuring local craft breweries, and a new family

zone sponsored by Duck Donuts (Pierno, 2016c). Loyal fans were prioritized as the team

announced the creation of a specially designated “supporters” section on game days for groups

like the Triangle Soccer Fanatics and Oak City Supporters (Pierno, 2016c). The team also created

an exclusive bus line between the stadium and several bars in Raleigh and Cary, including

Raleigh’s London Bridge Pub – which had served as a gathering location for supporters’ group

38

members and other fans before and after games (North Carolina FC, 2016k; Oak City Supporters,

2016a). The dedicated bus line would allow individuals to continue to congregate at those

locations before and after, while promoting safe driving for individuals consuming alcoholic

beverages (North Carolina FC, 2016k). Ryan Jernigan, founder of the Oak City Supporters group,

which traditionally meets at the London Bridge Pub in Raleigh on game days, revealed that

owner Steve Malik’s “reached out and promised a commitment to growing the supporters’

culture into something we could truly be proud of” (Pierno, 2016c). He noted that the “free bus

committed to taking people from downtown out to the stadium is a huge step in bringing the

momentum of a supporters’ culture to the RailHawks. … the relationship, expectations and

commitment level from the RailHawks is miles ahead of where it was” (Pierno, 2016c).

Developing Corporate Sponsors and Engaging with Local Businesses

The organization also launched multiple initiatives to engage and build relationships with

the greater Triangle-area community, specifically the corporate sector. General Manager, Curt

Johnson, stressed the importance of Malik’s connection to the local community and business

leaders of the Triangle when introducing the new owner at the opening press conference (North

Carolina FC, 2015d). Malik noted his familiarity with the leaders and owners of the current

sponsors but added, “…. there are some big names missing out there that should be supporting

soccer in this community. And we’re going to change that” (Morris, 2015b). Prior to the start of

the 2016 spring season, the team announced a broadcast extension with Capitol Sports

Broadcasting, a multi-year deal with Time Warner Cable that would broadcast all home and

away games throughout the majority of North and South Carolina and included games being

streamed on the wralsportsfan website (Pierno, 2016c). The announcement prompted the Triangle

Soccer Fanatics to taunt rival teams in the Carolinas with the following tweet:

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(Triangle Soccer Fanatics, 2016a)

In an effort to connect with local businesses, Malik spoke at the 2016 State of the Research

Triangle Region event – a conference sponsored by the Research Triangle Regional Partnership

that aims to engage with local corporations and attract new businesses to the region (North

Carolina FC, 2016p). Additionally, team manager, Curt Johnson, met directly with the Raleigh

Chamber of Commerce (North Carolina FC, 2016b). The organization worked with the NCAA to

receive hosting rights to the 2016 Women’s College Cup, signed a new multi-year partnership

with the NC Soccer Hall of Fame, and renewed Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina as the

“front of jersey” sponsors for the team uniforms (Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance, 2016; North

Carolina FC, 2016c; North Carolina FC, 2016l). The new and improved game-day experiences

that were put into place also aligned the team with local businesses that included food trucks, a

Dunkin Donuts sponsored fan-zone, and an exclusive relationship with Lone Rider Brewing that

created a team-specific beer called “Kupono Captain’s Ale” – named after veteran leader, and

team captain, Kupono Low (Nguyen, n.d.).

Generating Awareness in the Triangle-Area Community

The organization signaled its intent to be a committed and contributing member of the

Triangle community. Over the course of their 2016 season, the team partnered with multiple

charitable organizations and causes within the community. It announced an extensive

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philanthropic partnership with Make-A-Wish Eastern North Carolina that included special ticket

packages and donations of $2,500 for every home goal scored in the 2016 season (The News &

Observer, 2016). Other charitable endeavors included partnering with Hope Project Futból in

Raleigh to bring soccer opportunities to those with mental and physical disabilities, co-hosting a

tailgate with Triangle Soccer Fanatics and Oak City Supporters to benefit Equality NC, and

creating the “Go Gold” pediatric cancer awareness and donation campaign for the month of

September (North Carolina FC, 2016n; North Carolina FC, 2016q; North Carolina FC, 2016y). It

also promoted team forward Matthew Fondy’s movement #PlayingForPeaceSouthSudan, and the

team dedicated a game to respond to the local and international crisis caused by Hurricane

Matthew (North Carolina FC, 2016x; North Carolina FC, 2016aa).

Malik stressed that he believed the Triangle contained the right demographic makeup –

specifically millennials and international individuals – to help grow a soccer franchise (North

Carolina FC, 2015b). He also noted the potential opportunities for sponsors to market to Latino

individuals within the community (Pierno, 2016a). With these audiences in mind, the franchise

brought the Triangle two significant soccer exhibitions. The first, in March of 2016, pitted the

RailHawks against Deportivo Toluca F.C. – a ten-time championship-winning team in the

highest division of Mexican soccer. After officially announcing the match on February 8th, the

team began exchanging bilingual tweets with Toluca FC to promote the exhibition and offer

special promotions like admission to a live Toluca FC practice where fans could interact with the

international visitors (North Carolina FC, 2016g; North Carolina FC, 2016h). The RailHawks also

used its Twitter account to chronicle the events of the exhibition weekend, including welcome

messages and pictures of Toluca FC arriving at RDU airport, pictures of the RailHawks

interacting with the Toluca FC coaches and players, and pictures of the fan support at the Toluca

41

FC practice session and exhibition game (North Carolina FC, 2016j). Even though the team,

expectedly, lost to the international juggernauts 3-0, the game served as an organizational

victory. The exhibition targeted a new, more diverse set of fans that combined with the already

existing fan-base to produce a record-setting single-game crowd of 9,032 (Pierno, 2016b).

The second of the marquee international exhibitions occurred in May when the

RailHawks hosted West Ham United of the English Premiere League – the most popular and

widely-broadcast soccer league in the world. The match brought one of the most storied

franchises in all of international soccer to the Triangle and offered the opportunity to see several

players that had played in the World Cup from countries around the world (North Carolina FC,

2016m). Additionally, with the English Premiere League showing increasingly high levels of

popularity with millennial-aged individuals in the United States, the match offered the

opportunity for the RailHawks to draw interest in one of Malik’s key-identified demographics in

the community (Impey, 2020). The RailHawks once again used the anticipated match to promote

sales, secure new corporate sponsorships, and use social media to increase fan engagement.

Those interested in purchasing tickets to the West Ham United game were incentivized by

specialty ticket packages that included perks like access to a West Ham training session and

press conference with tickets to several RailHawks regular season games (North Carolina FC,

2016m). A commemorative jersey was created for the game that featured a one sleeve-patch for

the Ronald McDonald Houses of Durham and Wake County – a charity the organization had

supported throughout the season – as well as an additional sleeve patch for corporate sponsor

Red Hat (North Carolina FC, 2016r). The software company with a headquarters in Raleigh also

gave out Red Hat “fandanas” and encouraged fans to post pictures on social media using the

hashtag #RedHatPassion for a chance to win a commemorative jersey (North Carolina FC,

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2016s; North Carolina FC, 2016t). Once again, the team utilized its Twitter account to promote

the game and engage with West Ham United’s team, as well as capture the events surrounding

the exhibition, including a tailgate sponsored by both organizations to support diversity and

inclusion group Equality NC (North Carolina FC, 2016w). The organization had one more

surprise for fans at half-time by announcing the signing of Omar Bravo – the all-time leading

scorer for Mexican-league team Chivas Guadalajara (North Carolina FC, 2016u). High levels of

engagement and attendance with loyal West Ham supporters was seen not only at the game and

practice sessions, but fans of the English team also united with local fans and members of the

RailHawks supporters’ groups before the game at pubs to share their love of the game (Pope,

2016). Overall, the event was an enormous success. Not only did the RailHawks hold their own

by drawing 2-2 with the English team, but the game drew a new single-game attendance record

of 10,125 – breaking the record set earlier in the year at the Toluca FC exhibition (North

Carolina FC, 2016v).

The 2016 season was a success for the organization. Some encouraging results on the

field, such as a 5-0 win over rival Charlotte Independence in the U.S. Open Cup, were coupled

with promotional efforts to help set new attendance records for both a single-game and regular-

season average (North Carolina FC, 2016o; Pierno, 2016d). The organization was making in-

roads with fans, drawing new demographics to games, and developing new corporate sponsors

and charitable organization partnerships in the local community. The team was also growing its

presence, effectively using social media to promote the RailHawks experience and chronicle the

season. Well before the end of the fall season, the team’s Twitter account surpassed 15,000

followers (North Carolina FC, 2016z). The stage was set for what would become the single most

significant announcement in the history of soccer in the Triangle area.

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A New State of Soccer

After 2016, it would have been understandable for Malik and organizational leadership to

take an off-season to enjoy the fruits of their labor, but that was not the tenor of an owner who

declared intentions of taking the Triangle to the highest level of soccer in the country. Barely two

weeks after the last game of the 2016 season, the team’s Twitter account read: A NEW STATE

OF SOCCER IS COMING; 21 DAYS (North Carolina FC, 2016ab). The Oak City Supporters’

Twitter account commented, “Let the rumors begin. Whatever it is, the positive changes over the

last year have been numerous, thinking this will just be another one” (Oak City Supporters,

2016b). The Triangle Soccer Fanatics simply echoed, “#InMalikWeTrust” (Triangle Soccer

Fanatics, 2016b). The organization began to build buzz about an event on December 6th with a

daily countdown on Twitter and by revealing that FOX soccer television personality Fernando

Fiore would host the event (North Carolina FC, 2016ac). The week prior to the event, a post on

the team’s mobile app unintentionally revealed the news to come: the team would be re-

branding, pursuing both an MLS and NWSL team, and planning to build a new 20,000 seat

soccer stadium in the Triangle (Armstrong, 2016). Local media outlets began to report the story,

and discussions began racing across social media about the exciting news (New Raleigh, 2016).

At the “New State of Soccer” event, held downtown in Raleigh’s City Market and

broadcast live on the team’s official Facebook page, Malik confirmed the reports (North Carolina

FC, 2016af). The organization announced it would officially be re-branded as “North Carolina

F.C.” and revealed a bold new logo (Pierno, 2016e). Malik confirmed that the organization would

begin an aggressive campaign to obtain an MLS expansion team “in the next 12 to 18 months,”

as well as an NWSL women’s professional team within the next six (Pierno, 2016e). Finally,

Malik revealed plans to build a 24,000-seat stadium in the Triangle (Pierno, 2016e). Malik stated

44

that there were eight sites being considered for the potential $150 million dollar stadium, and that

the stadium’s investment group was willing to pay out of pocket but would need “some public

support” on infrastructure and parking (Pierno, 2016e). Major League Soccer issued a statement

the same day reciprocating the ambition to bring an MLS team to the Triangle, and Malik echoed

that he felt the Triangle was ready and well-positioned for an MLS team based on its

“geographic location, population growth, dynamic economic environment and significant soccer

participation” (North Carolina FC, 2016ag; Pierno, 2016e). Malik argued the stadium could

contribute to the booming economic growth of the area. Calling the stadium vital to the

organization’s ambitions and noting the stiff competition from other cities for an MLS franchise,

he stressed the need for teamwork in the community to make the plans a reality. He stated, “If we

want to attain a franchise, we need to gain community support, governmental support and

corporate support. … We need to show that we deserve a franchise” (North Carolina FC, 2016ag;

Pierno, 2016e).

The Branding of North Carolina FC

The team’s new branding was a declaration of the Triangle as the soccer capital of North

Carolina. Malik emphasized “North” in the name, unlike the state’s other professional franchises

like the Carolina Panthers or Carolina Hurricanes (Pierno, 2016e). North Carolina FC covered the

entire state while also taking a shot at long-time rivals in Charlotte (DeCock, 2016). The team’s

new crest utilized the white five-point star and colors of red, white and blue from the North

Carolina state flag (North Carolina FC, 2016ae). Officially named “Atlantic Blue,” the most

prominent color of the crest was meant to pay homage to the state’s 300 miles of coast that boast

iconic lighthouses (North Carolina FC, 2016ae). The crest’s design also utilizes “Southern Gold”

45

to carve out the lower right portion of the five-point star into a smaller piece reflective of the

geographic shape of the Triangle area (North Carolina FC, 2016ae). “North Carolina” was placed

largely in the center with “FC” below, flanked on each side by small wings representative of the

state’s ambition captured in its first in flight achievements in Kitty Hawk (North Carolina FC,

2016ae). While also honoring its location in the Triangle area, the new team crest honored iconic

components from every corner of the state, declaring its identity as “the club of North Carolina”

(North Carolina FC, 2016ae).

Image from northcarolinfc.com

Launching Ahead into the Bid for MLS Expansion

With a bold new brand to match its bold new ambitions, the North Carolina FC

organization once again amped up its promotional efforts. The team released a professionally

produced promotional video on Twitter that emboldened individuals to take pride in their state

and the new club coming its way (North Carolina FC, 2016ah). The post included the hashtags

#919toMLS, #919toNWSL, and #AreYouIn (North Carolina FC, 2016ah). Two days later, the

team posted a statement on Twitter from U.S. Women’s National Team legend and former Tar

Heel soccer star, Heather O’Reilly, voicing her excitement for the recent news (North Carolina

46

FC, 2016ai). The organization also began heavily promoting a club “membership program”

where members would not only receive perks like priority purchasing for future MLS and NWSL

games but would also be afforded a voice in the club’s growth and development, including

opportunities to provide input and vote on items that would directly impact the fans’ gameday

experience (North Carolina FC, 2016ad). The team immediately began selling newly branded

merchandise on its online store, including the inaugural team jersey for the 2017 season, which

the team teased with a reveal that received 200 retweets and likes on Twitter, Instagram and

Facebook (North Carolina FC, 2016aj; North Carolina FC, 2016ak).

Barely a week after the birth of North Carolina FC, as excitement continued to grow,

Major League Soccer announced plans to expand from 24 to 28 teams (Couch, 2016). The next

two expansion spots would be announced in the second or third quarter of 2017 with ten cities,

including Raleigh, reportedly under consideration (Couch, 2016). MLS cemented an application

date of January 31, 2017 for all official bids while revealing its three main criteria for assessing

candidates:

1. A committed local ownership group that has a passion for the sport, a deep belief in

Major League Soccer and the resources to invest in the infrastructure to build the sport

in their respective market.

2. A market that has a history of strong fan support for soccer matches and other

sporting events, is located in a desirable geographic location and is attractive to

corporate sponsors and television partners.

3. A comprehensive stadium plan that ensures the club will have a proper home for their

fans and players while also serving as a destination for the sport in the community

(Couch, 2016).

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North Carolina FC quickly issued an official announcement relaying its excitement to be a

finalist and to bring a team to the area (North Carolina FC, 2016al).

Organizational Changes and Corporate Support Strengthen MLS Bid

The first half of 2017 mirrored 2016 with the same level of promotional and marketing

initiatives, announcements for two more high-profile international exhibition matches, new

corporate sponsorship initiatives, new team signings, and major organizational moves – all

within the backdrop of Malik and North Carolina FC’s bid for an MLS expansion franchise

(North Carolina FC, 2017b).

The first piece of the plan to fall into place was the acquisition of a professional women’s

franchise. On January 9th, 2017, North Carolina FC announced it had purchased the rights to the

NWSL’s Western New York Flash (North Carolina FC, 2017a). The Flash were the reigning

champions of the National Women’s Soccer League (the highest competitive women’s soccer

league in the United States), but the team had struggled with attendance in previous seasons,

allowing for the acquisition (Pierno, 2017a). Malik expressed his excitement in bringing “the

highest level of women’s professional soccer back to the Triangle” and the opportunity to

“continue to grow the women’s game in North Carolina and the nation” (North Carolina FC,

2017a). The team was branded the “North Carolina Courage” with a crest largely matching North

Carolina FC’s branding but with the inclusion of a lion (North Carolina FC, 2017a). Both the

“Courage” name and lion were an homage to the Triangle’s first women’s soccer team that

competed in the WUSA in the early 2000’s before the league folded (North Carolina FC, 2017a).

With several members of U.S. Women’s National Team and other international teams already on

48

the roster, the organization had another exciting product to offer its fans and was now poised for

growth with a new demographic of individuals and families that supported women’s soccer.

In an official announcement confirming the bid submission on January 31st, Malik noted

that the Triangle boasted the highest growth rate among all its MLS expansion competitors, a top

25 television market, a top five ranking in population-per-professional franchise among all

current MLS markets, an emergence as a national “tech” hotspot, and a prime location to connect

to MLS franchises in Washington, DC and Atlanta (North Carolina FC, 2017b). Malik

readdressed the team’s intentions to “rally the community behind [the organization’s] initiatives

as we continue on our parallel paths of securing a new purpose-built stadium and expanding our

corporate and individual membership” (North Carolina FC, 2017b). An allusion of things to

come, one of the biggest members of the corporate community, real estate mogul Dane Kane,

stood silently in the back as Malik spoke (DeCock, 2017a). Malik’s bid included initial

renderings for a 22,000-seat stadium drafted by Gensler – the renowned architectural firm that

designed several stunning stadiums for MLS steams (Pierno, 2017b). This included the

possibility that the stadium could include a translucent roof to help showcase a downtown

skyline (Pierno, 2017b). It was reported that the potential sites for the stadium had been narrowed

to three possibilities, and the renderings would be available in the “in the next few weeks” for

public feedback (Pierno, 2017b). In a Twitter post on the afternoon of the 31st, the team

confirmed its “bid was now in the hands of” the MLS and its commissioner, Don Garber, and his

showy twitter handle “@thesoccerdon” (North Carolina FC, 2017c).

With the bid in, the community joined the organization in a series of efforts to strengthen

its position among the MLS finalists. On March 6th, the Wake County Board of Commissioners

agreed to send a letter to MLS president, Mark Abbott, pledging “full support of the North

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Carolina Football Club’s bid” (Specht, 2017a). Commissioner chairman, Sig Hutchinson, told

reporters he was asked to write the letter by MLS supporters and was happy to oblige (Specht,

2017a). He said 43 people move to Wake County each day, with roughly three-quarters re-

locating from states that already have an MLS team and presence and the other quarter coming

from other countries where soccer is wildly popular (Specht, 2017a). Four days later, the

organization announced a collaboration with CASL and Triangle Football Club Alliance – the

area’s two premiere youth soccer organizations (North Carolina FC, 2017d). With 13,500 youth

soccer members and 20,000 players and coaches under the North Carolina FC umbrella, the

organization had successfully created the “largest youth-to-professional soccer club in the United

States” (North Carolina FC, 2017d). Malik stated, “nobody has a pyramid like this,” and with

recent MLS emphasis on home-grown talent, he believed the “unprecedented” move would be a

“key positive differentiator” and clear distinguishing factor in the club’s MLS bid (North

Carolina FC, 2017d; Pierno, 2017c).

The organization built new relationships with sponsors to both strengthen its position in

the community and better reflect its corporate support to the MLS Expansion Committee. Blue

Cross Blue Shield of NC would remain a key jersey sponsor, appearing on the front of the North

Carolina Courage jerseys, while Circle K would serve as the font-of-jersey sponsors for the

men’s uniforms (North Carolina FC, 2017e). North Carolina FC would later announce that ticket

vouchers and select merchandise would be sold in more than sixty Circle K stores in the local

area (North Carolina FC, 2017i). The team also announced an additional sponsorship agreement

with Continental Tires, with the brand’s logo featuring on the back of both the men’s and

women’s jerseys (North Carolina FC, 2017e). Continental Tire served as “the official tire” of

both the MLS and U.S. Soccer, and NCFC’s inking of this jersey sponsorship offered strategic

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alignment with the largest governing bodies of soccer in the United States and favorable optics in

pursuit of MLS expansion (North Carolina FC, 2017e). Additionally, the organization added or

renewed sponsorships with Advance Auto Parts and television partners WRAL, Spectrum

(formerly Time Warner Cable), ESPN, BeIN Sports (North Carolina FC, 2017e; North Carolina

FC, 2017f). Sahlen Packing Company – whose owners were the family from which Malik

purchased the Western New York Flash earlier in the year – signed a multi-year stadium naming

rights agreement at Wake Med Soccer Park (North Carolina FC, 2017g). Finally, Ipreo – a

leading global provider of financial services technology and data – joined NCFC’s “Starting

Eleven” corporate sponsorship group – a selection high-level, Triangle-based sponsors intended

to show the MLS Expansion Committee a high level of corporate support in their expansion bid

(North Carolina FC, 2017h).

In addition to the above, the men’s team successfully hosted another top-tier Mexican

league club in an international friendly and put together a solid spring season in the National

American Soccer League (ESPN, n.d.). It ousted rival – and fellow competitor for MLS

expansion – Charlotte Independence in the U.S. Open Cup for a second consecutive year and

successfully “represented its MLS bid on the field” in an extra-time 3-2 loss to current MLS

franchise, Houston Dynamo (North Carolina FC, 2017j; North Carolina FC, 2017k). The

organization was ready for the next major step in its MLS expansion bid.

Stadium Plans Revealed During a Visit from MLS Executives

In June, Malik revealed MLS executives would soon be making an evaluation visit to the

Triangle, and he noted how he was “blown away by how the perception of his expansion bid has

changed since January” (DeCock, 2017a). While Malik touted outsiders’ praise for the

51

organization’s creation of the North Carolina FC Youth program, local reporter Luke DeCock

noted that the largest outstanding issue was a comprehensive stadium plan, as the community

feedback timeline was now months behind schedule (DeCock, 2017a). With several MLS

expansion finalists seeing their stadium plans falling apart, Malik acknowledged that some

groups had “moved themselves down” in the ranking of the MLS’ options, and he reiterated the

fluidity of managing multiple scenarios for the potential stadium (DeCock, 2017a).

To prep for the site visit on June 19th, the team’s Twitter account posted an open

invitation to the #919toMLS Rally” (North Carolina FC, 2017n). While the announcement noted

the visit team’s overall activities in the community, the franchise began heavily promoting the

event on social media in an attempt to drive fans to the 5pm “MLS Rally” (North Carolina FC,

2017m). Near-daily promotional posts continued to build momentum for the event and advertised

free scarves, beer and t-shirts for those in attendance (North Carolina FC, 2017p).

The stage was set for Malik to reveal the stadium plans that would complete the full

criteria for the MLS Expansion Committee and finalize the vision for Triangle fans to rally

around. At a morning press conference, Malik presented plans for a dazzling complex located in

the heart of downtown Raleigh (North Carolina FC, 2017s). “Our vision is to make this facility a

crown jewel for downtown Raleigh, providing a world-class sporting and social experience for

fans and the community,” Malik said, adding that he was ready to engage in dialogue with

community members and officials to make the vision a reality (North Carolina FC, 2017s).

Within minutes, the organization has posted a “hype” video on social media that featured the

dramatic renderings for the stadium, garnering over 70,000 views on Twitter alone (North

Carolina FC, 2017r). The organization revealed its plans for the complex to be a mixed-use

development that included a conference center, office and retail space, and residential units

52

(Specht, 2017c). North Carolina FC cited findings from an economic development study that the

complex and an MLS team could provide an estimated $2.8 billion dollars to state of North

Carolina over the next 17 years (North Carolina FC, 2017s). The same study found that each year

those benefits could equate to $262 million in economic activity, the creation or support of 2,000

jobs, and up to $5.6 million in state tax-payer revenue (North Carolina FC, 2017s). While North

Carolina FC’s social media splashed pictures of hundreds of fans flocking to City Market, local

reporters quickly began to ponder the viability of the stadium plan (DeCock, 2017b; North

Carolina FC, 2017t; Specht, 2017c;).

A Curious Stadium Proposal

The problem with the stadium plans came from the fact that the proposed site resided on

13 acres of state-owned land (Specht, 2017c). The stadium plans would require the moving or

demolition of multiple structures, including the Raleigh and Gaston Seaboard Coastline

Building, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, and the relocation of about 965

state employees currently working there (Specht, 2017b; Specht, 2017c). The idea was to allow

Raleigh real estate mogul John Kane to develop new office buildings to lease back to the state

(Specht, 2017b). Although the presentation offered a stunning design and vision for the new

stadium, there was a curious absence of vocal support from any city or state officials

accompanying the plans. Billie Redmond, founder of TradeMark Properties and spokesperson

for the North Carolina FC organization, noted that although the franchise met with state officials,

no “specifics of a potential deal” were discussed, and that the conversation could be categorized

as “more of a ‘what if’ dialogue” (Specht, 2017c). Redmond continued that goal of revealing the

stadium plans was instead to catalyze a public dialogue (Specht, 2017c).

53

Redmond’s revelation that the franchise had only engaged in “what if” dialogue with the

necessary government officials seemed counterintuitive to the direct remarks that Malik had

made barely a month prior acknowledging the stadium plan failures of some of his MLS

expansion competitors and the care he was taking to obtain the necessary “base of support”

before coming forth with a preferred plan (DeCock, 2017a; Specht, 2017c). Although no public

tax money would be requested to build the stadium, it was reported that both the city of Raleigh

and Wake County could potentially be asked to help fund infrastructure and parking needs

(Specht, 2017c). The Wake County Board of Commissioners once again voiced support

following the stadium plan reveal, but City of Raleigh officials were much more non-committal

and seemed to be caught off guard by the stadium plans (Specht, 2017c). When asked if they

would support any funding for the project, a City Council Spokesperson responded, “It would be

impossible to answer that questions because no proposal has been officially presented to the City

Council” (Specht, 2017c). A potential stadium in the southern portion of downtown had actually

been included a plan two years earlier, but the city’s 10-year growth plan specified a desire for

“small, sensitive adjustments to the existing neighborhood fabric” of northern downtown –

where the current stadium was planned (Specht, 2017d). Marco Rosa, speaking on behalf of

North Carolina FC, echoed that the plans were only the initial asks of city and state officials, and

that the seemingly non-existent dialogue between the organization and the city was actually a

level that was “common in significant private investments” (Specht, 2017d).

When asked about the logistical challenges that stadium plan faced Malik revealed that

had been considering a non-downtown site that would have been easier, but downtown Raleigh

leaders expressed a “groundswell of support for putting the stadium downtown,” believing it

would act as a catalyst for additional development (DeCock, 2017b). Malik acknowledged, “….

54

we’ve chosen to take on that challenge because so many people believe it’s the right thing for

Raleigh” (DeCock, 2017b). The stadium would certainly be an economic cornerstone in an

underdeveloped area of the city, and it would most likely catalyze development in neighboring

areas of downtown (DeCock, 2017b). That development would potentially help connect these

locations with the already highly developed areas of Glenwood South and the Fayetteville Street

Mall (DeCock, 2017b). The vision for the greater development of downtown Raleigh was clear,

but ultimately the plans rested on the “whim of the N.C. General Assembly” and its sanctioning

of the sale of the state-owned land (DeCock, 2017b). North Carolina FC hired a lobbyist to help

mediate conversation with state legislators, but the larger political dynamics of the state-wide

General Assembly quickly emerged (Morrill & Specht, 2017). The day after North Carolina FC

announced its stadium plans, two Charlotte-based members of the North Carolina General

Assembly claimed that if the state chose to sell the government-owned land in Raleigh’s

downtown to North Carolina FC it would be effectively choosing the winner of the MLS

expansion contest (Morrill & Specht, 2017).

North Carolina FC Resumes Business as Usual … Until it Doesn’t

North Carolina FC left the fate of its MLS aspirations in the hands of a state legislature

and its organizational leadership working behind the scenes, while the men’s and women’s teams

continued their stellar 2017 seasons (NASL, 2017; NC Courage, 2017a). Just three days after the

stadium announcement, the North Carolina FC men hosted another international exhibition

against an English Premiere League team (North Carolina FC, 2017l). The team’s social media

channel followed their previously successful formula of promotion - posting pictures of Swansea

City AFC’s arrival at the airport, training session interaction with fans, joint press conferences,

55

and game-day festivities and corporate sponsored events (North Carolina FC, 2017l; North

Carolina FC, 2017o; North Carolina FC, 2017q). North Carolina FC tied Swansea 0-0 in front of

a crowd of 7,268 fans, matching wits with a team from the highest level of professional soccer

for the second year in a row (North Carolina FC, 2017u). The North Carolina FC men were

marching toward an appearance in the 2017 NASL playoffs, while the North Carolina Courage

were on their way to another first-place finish in the NWSL regular season and a runner-up finish

in the league’s playoff (NC Courage, 2017b; North Carolina FC, 2017w). Additionally, the newly

created North Carolina Youth academy prepared to kick-off their inaugural U.S. Developmental

Academy seasons in mid-September, with six boys and four girls teams representing the club

(North Carolina FC, 2017v). The season was winding down with both the organization and its

teams finding success, until news from the General Assembly broke in early October.

In a special session of the N.C. General Assembly on October 4th, a bill was proposed

that included an allotment of $200,000 for the Department of Administration to study and plan

for the contingency that state employees be moved should a soccer stadium be built on the

government-owned land in Raleigh (Specht, 2017e). However, the bill was amended to exclude

the funding after State Senator Harry Brown, the Republican majority leader in the Senate,

deemed it would be premature to study the issue (Specht, 2017e). On November 29th, MLS

announced Nashville, Cincinnati, Sacramento and Detroit as the four finalists for their expansion

spots (Borg, 2017). The NCFC organization released an upbeat official announcement the same

day, stating it was still in contention for the second set of expansion franchises and was working

diligently to secure a stadium. The statement continued, “Momentum for the project continues to

build and we look forward to continued dialogue with the community and with MLS as we

demonstrate why the Triangle should be home to a franchise” (Specht & Blake, 2017). With

56

another two expansion teams to be named in 2018, Malik restated his commitment to the current

stadium plans. He was quick to recount all the progress the organization had made in the past

year and noted, in the coming year, he would focus on addressing attendance challenges, “We’ve

made a lot of progress in the last year… If we make this much progress in the next year, we’re

going to be in great shape” (DeCock, 2017c). On the same day, the organization released a

second official statement titled “North Carolina FC remains on track for #919toMLS” (North

Carolina FC, 2017y). It echoed Malik’s statements in reassuring fans that the plan to bring MLS

to Raleigh was still in place, and that the organization was well-positioned for one of the next

two expansion spots (North Carolina FC, 2017y).

2018: Left Out but Looking Forward

With the organization optimistic that an MLS expansion team was still within reach, it set

about the work of the 2018 season. The priorities were clear: finalize the stadium plans and

continue to build community support in the form of fan attendance and corporate sponsorships.

Following a restructuring of United States professional Division 2 soccer, the organization

announced the men’s team would transition from the North American Soccer League to playing

in the United Soccer League (North Carolina FC, 2017x; Straus, 2017b). The move would for the

renewal of decades-old rivalries between Triangle teams and USL teams Charleston Battery,

Charlotte Independence and Richmond Kickers (North Carolina FC, 2017x). The North Carolina

Courage women’s team would seek to defend their first-place finish in the NWSL. The team also

announced that Wake Med Soccer Park would host a U.S. Men’s National Team match on

March 27th – the first time the national men’s team would play in the Triangle since 2006 (North

Carolina FC, 2018a). The North Carolina Football Club organization hosted U.S. Men’s National

57

Team head-coach, Dave Sarachen, ahead of the national team’s match, and the US skipper

offered glowing remarks of the organization and Triangle area (North Carolina FC, 2018d).

Sarachen beamed, “This area is a model in terms of the country and moving [soccer] forward”

adding, “We need 100 Steve Malik’s around this country in terms of what he’s put into this area

and done for the sport in this area” (North Carolina FC, 2018d). The U.S. men defeated Paraguay

1-0 in front of a sold-out crowd, despite several of the most notable national team members not

making the trip for the exhibition match (North Carolina FC, 2018j). U.S. player Tyler Adams

called crowd “unbelievable,” and Malik noted the sold-out stadium and great atmosphere only

helped to serve as an indication that the Triangle would continue to grow and “look better and

better over time” (North Carolina FC, 2018j).

Amid success on the field, the organization began tackling its goals of further developing

corporate and community support. On February 21st, it launched an interactive series, “Behind

the Bid,” which profiled “major Triangle influencers” voicing support for the #919toMLS

movement (North Carolina FC, 2018b). The first episode featured Billie Redmond, founder of

TradeMark Properties (North Carolina FC, 2018b; North Carolina FC 2018c). The five-part series

was rolled out over three months, and each episode was promoted on the team’s official website

and social media accounts. The subsequent four episodes featured Triangle area influencers Rick

Gardner (Founder and President of RGA Investments), Terrence and Tory Holt (former NFL and

N.C. State football stars), Mary-Ann Baldwin (VP, Marketing and Development at Holt

Brothers, Inc. and Co-Founder of Innovate Raleigh), and Brian Ralph (President of William

Peace University) (North Carolina FC, 2018e; North Carolina FC, 2018i; North Carolina FC,

2018l; North Carolina FC, 2018n). The next month, Baldwin would write an op-ed in The News

& Observer reflecting on what Raleigh could take away from the Chamber of Commerce’s

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recent trip to Seattle for the Inter-City Visit & Leadership Conference, including the importance

of building a stadium downtown and partnering with the local community (Baldwin, 2018).

Additional local corporate efforts included the creation of a new corporate-specific membership

program and the addition official sponsorship agreements with Coastal Federal Credit Union and

Cary-based Chiesi Pharmaceuticals (North Carolina FC, 2018g; North Carolina FC, 2018m).

However, quite possibly the largest corporate sponsor in organizational history was landed in

2018 when Aetna agreed to become the official health insurance partner of North Carolina FC

(North Carolina FC, 2018k). As the third-largest health insurance provider in the country with a

reported $60 billion in revenue in 2018, Aetna certainly qualified as the type of marquee sponsor

that would attract MLS attention (Forbes, 2018; Price & Law, 2021).

The organization also introduced new charitable and community outreach efforts as well

as continued game-day improvements in 2018. A partnership with Kick 4 Kids provided tickets

to underprivileged children and the team (North Carolina FC, 2018f). The team also announced a

full slate of events for “Pride Week,” sponsored by Credit Suisse, which included meet and greet

sessions with players, a joint player-fan “Barcade” outing, special LBGTQ-themed merchandise,

and a fundraiser proceeding LBGTQ-non-profit Athlete Ally (North Carolina FC, 2018o). A

large fan experience initiative came in the formation of themed “game platforms” throughout

2018 in which weekly North Carolina FC and North Carolina Courage home games were

designated specific themes including Military Appreciation Night, First Responders Night,

Breast Cancer Awareness and Pediatric Cancer Awareness nights, a Triangle Craft Beer Fest

game, and finally a Harry-Potter themed Wizard Night – most of which were presented by

designated corporate sponsor (North Carolina FC, 2018h; North Carolina FC, 2018p; North

Carolina FC, 2018q). In September the organization even announced a special partnership with

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the Carolina Hurricanes for an exclusive match day that featured back-to-back North Carolina

FC and North Carolina Courage home games (North Carolina FC, 2018r). Indented to show

solidarity in support of the professional franchises in Raleigh, special limited-edition t-shirts

featuring the three team’s logos were created and Carolina Hurricanes players were even in

attendance to take in the action and interact with fans (North Carolina FC, 2018r).

MLS Expansion and Stadium Plan Updates?

In mid-May, Malik confirmed to local reporters that he was still actively working on

securing the site for the stadium, adding, “If we get the stadium, I think we’ll be getting the

franchise” (Blake, 2018). He also revealed that, although the original plans were to exclusively

use private funding for the stadium costs with private funds, he was exploring new options that

included a mix of public/private financing and would even consider oversight from a “quasi-

governmental board,” such as the one that governs PNC Arena – home of the city’s Carolina

Hurricanes NHL-franchise (Blake, 2018). Malik added that he thought the Raleigh versus

Charlotte element of the stadium bid was “overblown,” although that particular conversation

would soon receive a reignited spark (Blake, 2018).

Less than two months later, billionaire David Tepper finalized a deal to acquire the

Charlotte’s Carolina Panthers NFL franchise and mentioned the possibility of bringing an MLS

franchise to Charlotte in his introductory press conference (Newton, 2018; Voth, 2018). A few

weeks later at the MLS All-Star game in Atlanta, Commissioner Don Garber noted that Tepper’s

interest had caught his attention (DeCock, 2018). While the Commissioner also noted that the

MLS had received “lots of interest” from Raleigh and lauded Steve Malik as a “close friend of

the league,” he also admitted that expressed interest of billionaire Tepper puts the expansion path

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“in the hopper” as the path to expansion is finalized (DeCock, 2018). Weeks later, the downtown

Raleigh stadium plans were given a shot in the arm when The Greater Raleigh Convention and

Visitors Bureau unveiled a new strategic plan that included the stadium as part of its key

recommendations (Johnson, 2018). Still, no official word had been provided on if any progress

had been made with the N.C. General Assembly.

2019: New Rounds of MLS Expansion and A New Stadium Plan

Major League Soccer filled three of the four announced expansion spots when they

awarded Austin an MLS expansion franchise in January 2019 (Associated Press, 2019). Perhaps

preparing one last push for MLS expansion, Malik officially revealed that he and the North

Carolina FC organization would be pivoting away from his original state-government owned

stadium site plans and revealed a newly targeted site just South of downtown Raleigh on March

15th of 2019 (Eanes, 2019a). Malik confirmed he and real estate development partner, John Kane,

had 40 acres “under control” that would allow for additional development (Eanes, 2019a). Malik

noted that he and Kane were currently pitching the plans to Wake County with the hopes of a

public/private financing agreement (Eanes, 2019b). Malik and Kane were reportedly asking for

over $300 million in funding allocated over the course of 30 years (Eanes, 2019b). Malik

emphasized the city would in return be receiving $20 million per year in property tax revenue,

the creation of thousands of new jobs, and a tremendous economic investment in the area (Eanes,

2019b).

The site was also within an identified “opportunity zone” – a newly designated feature in

the county’s tax code that offered developers savings for investing in “economically

disadvantaged areas” (Eanes, 2019b). Malik noted that members of the City Council and County

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Commissioners expressed an interest in investing in Southeast Raleigh to “lift up that part of

town” and hopefully create greater “economic equity” (Eanes, 2019b). Malik also expressed an

interest in investing in the community of Southeast Raleigh, hoping to create a number of soccer

fields the entire community could utilize (Eanes, 2019c). He said, “That’s an area of our

community that we can do more to bring the benefits of our game to” (Eanes, 2019c).

Malik noted that this site offered the best combination an “urban” location, “significant

acreage,” and financial incentives (Eanes, 2019b). Malik was also quick to note that development

at this specific site was not contingent upon receiving an MLS expansion franchise or even

receiving public funding to build a stadium, and that he, Kane, and a group of undisclosed

investors planned to develop the regardless (Eanes, 2019b). Malik acknowledged that he didn’t

believe Raleigh would be chosen in the next round of expansion but that they city would have a

good chance if the MLS decided to expand beyond 30 teams (Eanes, 2019a). While he

acknowledged a stadium would potentially help an MLS expansion bid, he also cited that the

stadium represented an attractive investment for the city in and of itself as a potential site for the

teams but also for additional sports opportunities (Eanes, 2019b).

The Official Launch of the “Downtown South” Complex

An official announcement on April 18th that MLS would be broadening its expansion

from 28 to 30 teams came as no surprise to many that had been following league developments

(Major League Soccer, 2019a). News had leaked that the league had heard compelling expansion

pitches from Sacramento and St. Louis in April, and commissioner Garber noted in the MLS

Board of Governors meeting that, “We of late have been in very positive discussions in Las

Vegas and in Charlotte” (Peralta & Rodrigue, 2019).

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On June 25th, the full plans for Malik’s new stadium in Southeast Raleigh were revealed

in a public press conference (Eanes, 2019d). Renderings revealed a $2 billion “Downtown

Raleigh Entertainment District” that would include 1.6 million square feet of office space, 1,200

hotel rooms, 1,750 apartments, and 125,000 square feet of commercial space for retail and

restaurants (Eanes, 2019d; North Carolina FC, 2019b). Malik asked for $13 million per year for

the next 20 to 25 years to pay for the proposed $180 million stadium, and his press conference

served as a catalyst to collect public support for the government funding he said was needed to

kick-start the project (Eanes, 2019d). A new economic analysis projected the development could

generate $2.7 billion in economic activity for Wake county in 15 years and include 5,900 new

jobs, $20 million in property tax revenue and $3.7 million in tourism tax revenue annually

(Eanes, 2019d). But Malik stressed the urgency for receiving the public funding to make it

happen (Eanes, 2019d). A new website created for the project (visitdowntownsouth.com) and

subsequent press releases and social media posts from North Carolina FC urged community

members to reach out to County Commissioners and City Council members in voicing their

support for the allocation of government funds for the plans (North Carolina FC, 2019a; North

Carolina FC, 2019c).

The required funding would come from the county’s “Interlocal Agreement” – a pool of

Wake County room occupancy and prepared food and beverage taxes – and Malik faced

competing interests for those funds, as well as increasing concerns about gentrification amidst

the “dramatic” redevelopment of Southeast Raleigh in recent years (Eanes, 2019d). In fact, the

week before Malik’s June 25th reveal of the new plans, Raleigh and Wake county managers

excluded the stadium from a list of recommended allocations of those “Interlocal Agreement”

funds, pitting Malik’s goals against other priorities in the area (Johnson & Eanes, 2019). With

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regards to concerns of gentrification, Malik cited a desire to buy two parcels of land on opposite

sides of South Saunders as part of the project – with one side dedicated to building community

soccer fields and more affordable housing in the area (Eanes, 2019d). Kane stated,

“[Gentrification] is a big topic, both for our county and our city, and something that we need to

work with them on how to best approach” (Eanes, 2019d).

In November, Malik announced the sale of his company, Medfusion, for $43 million

(Eanes, 2019e). Malik admitted the timing of the sale was “not coincidental” and added, “Having

some additional capital as we pursue a significant development like this ... is very helpful.”

(Eanes, 2019e). The next month, it was reported that “a significant 88-acre portion of the

project’s desired 130-acres” was purchased by the project developers on December 23rd

(Sánchez-Guerra, 2019). This included word that Billie Redmond’s TradeMark company would

“be involved in the community engagement aspect of the project and [TradeMark’s] role will

dramatically shift. We are a 35-year-old firm that has been focused on community involvement

and engagement” (Sánchez-Guerra, 2019). Redmond offered additional comments on the

community relations aspect of the development, stating, “Some things that were important to

Steve [Malik] and John [Kane] were that they did not want to disturb an existing neighborhood,”

adding, “We’re opening up an entire district of an area that is largely undeveloped and

underutilized” (Sánchez-Guerra, 2019).

A New Year with a Singular Focus on Downtown South

Steve Malik and the North Carolina FC organization entered 2020 with big goals and

dedication. MLS filled the remainder of its open expansion franchise spots in 2019 when it

officially awarded franchises to St. Louis and Sacramento in the fall and added cross-state rival

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Charlotte on December 19th (Bogert, 2019b; Bogert, 2019c; Bogert, 2019d). Still, the organization

was coming off successful seasons for both its teams. The North Carolina FC men managed to

reach the USL playoffs, and the North Carolina Courage secured both the NWSL regular season

and playoff titles (NC Courage, 2019a; NC Courage, 2019b; North Carolina FC, 2019d). The

North Carolina Courage team also showed impressive attendance number in 2019, with an

average attendance of 5,875 for the 2019 regular-season and setting a new single-game regular-

season record of 9,563 fans on September 14 (NC Courage, 2019a; Stadium Digest, n.d.c). That

2019 average attendance number of 5,875 was over 1,500 more fans than the North Carolina FC

men averaged that same season (Soccer Stadium Digest, n.d.c; Soccer Stadium Digest, n.d.d). In

fact, the 2019 Courage regular-season average of 5,875 fans was actually higher than any

regular-season average than the men’s team had posted in their entire history of existence

(Soccer Stadium Digest, n.d.a; Soccer Stadium Digest, n.d.d; wralSPORTSfan, n.d.).

Even with MLS expansion full, Malik remained committed to bringing his teams a new

and improved stadium in downtown Raleigh. In February, Malik received a marketing boost

when he announced a partnership with Grammy-winning rapper J. Cole’s “Dreamville Festival”

(Sánchez-Guerra, 2020a). In a press conference, Malik debuted the new North Carolina FC

men’s jerseys for 2020, which prominently featured the Dreamville logo. Malik noted that the

partnership with North Carolina-native J. Cole and the festival “quickly transferred to our visions

for the community ... to the southern part of Raleigh and the development opportunity there”

(Sánchez-Guerra, 2020a). Malik alluded to his hopes to one day host the annual festival (which

garnered approximately 40,000 concertgoers in 2019) in the new stadium he was planning

(Sánchez-Guerra, 2020a). Malik stated that the zoning process could take six months to a year

(Sánchez-Guerra, 2020a).

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Like many things during the Coronavirus pandemic, the process of getting rezoning

approval was slow. The next update on the stadium site didn’t come until October 20th, when

Kane Realty asked for city leaders to consider a “tax increment grant” – essentially a

preservation of the current property tax value at the site, alleviating developers from paying

future increases in property tax – to help cover costs of both the stadium and a package of

community benefits included in the original plans including affordable housing, green

stormwater infrastructure, and parks and greenways for public use (Johnson, 2020a). The tourism

tax money that developers had hoped to utilize to pay for the project had been significantly

depleted due to the Coronavirus pandemic, and without the city’s approval of the “tax increment

grant,” the developers stated that the project was unlikely to be feasible (Johnson, 2020a). The

other large ask from the developers was for the city to approve the rezoning of the land without

committing to any of the promised community benefits (Johnson, 2020a). Community members,

like Reverend Jemonde Taylor and Carmen Cauthen, had already begun to voice their concerns

and fears about the impact of the development (Johnson, 2020a). Taylor noted that he feared that

rising flood levels would eventually wash away St. Ambrose Episcopal Church, “We know there

will be environmental impacts [with the development] (Johnson, 2020a). He added, “We also

know there will be a community impact… Gentrification is already happening. We think this

development will increase the rate of gentrification and displacement” of individuals who lived

in the historically black neighborhood of Rochester Heights (Johnson 2020a). Cauthen noted,

“This is the biggest project the city has ever seen… It’s going to affect the whole city. So, they

need to be reaching out to everybody” and added, “…. at this point, this process seems to be

going really fast. And the community still needs to be heard” (Johnson, 2020a).

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Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin asked the City Council to create a “community engagement

committee” to work with the developers about the type of community benefits that could be

included (Johnson, 2020a). Bonner Gaylord, managing director of operations for Kane Realty,

acknowledged community concerns about the rezoning being approved without a guarantee of

the community benefits in the original plan stating, “In any process like this where we are trying

to get somewhere together, it is going to require some trust” and reaffirming that developers

were “committed to transparency and engagement throughout the process” (Johnson, 2020a).

Continued Pressure and Resistance from the Community

Community members continued to voice their concern during a city Planning

Commission meeting on October 29th, including stormwater and environmental concerns, as well

as a lack of due diligence from the city in determining if Downtown South would adhere to

development guidelines since its exact construction size and designs had not been included in

officially submitted site plans (Sánchez-Guerra, 2020b). Planning commissioner Nicole Bennett

offered agreement with public concerns, concluding, “We’re rushing everything. I think the staff

deserves to have the time to review the analysis to able to submit comments to be able get a

revised [development] document back” (Sánchez-Guerra, 2020b). In the meeting, Kane Realty

had separated out the community benefits that could be achieved through rezoning versus those

that would be made possible by the “tax increment grant” the developer had requested (Sánchez-

Guerra, 2020b). While rezoning would allow for green stormwater infrastructure, transportation

and parking improvement, the park space and cultural attractions as well as affordable housing

projects and workforce development programs would need the aid of government grants

(Sánchez-Guerra, 2020b). Kane representatives noted that developers had held recent

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neighborhood meetings with good attendance and sent out an online survey that yielded 2,268

responses, with additional outreach planned (Sánchez-Guerra, 2020b).

In late November, developers added several new conditions for the Downtown South

project to meet community needs and concerns (Johnson, 2020b). Those provisions included

reserving 10% of the first 999 housing units at the site for individuals and families making less

than 80% of the area mean income (a common measurement used to define “affordable

housing”) for a period of five years – with a hope to target individuals/families making 60% of

the area mean income and dedicate a third of the affordable housing units to seniors (Johnson,

2020b). Additional conditions included a promise to hold public information meetings every

three months for the next three years and promising “green stormwater” initiatives like rainwater

harvesting and green roofs (Johnson, 2020b). Kane Realty stated, “We have developed conditions

in response to all the community concerns we have heard to the extent that can be resolved in the

rezoning [phase]” (Johnson, 2020b).

As meetings in mid-December for a potential city council vote on the project loomed,

some community voices continued to speak out in opposition. One specific organization, a

“coalition of faith organizations and nonprofits” called ONE Wake, sent a letter to the Raleigh

City Council in early December claiming that Kane Realty had “walked away from the

negotiation table” with regards to their concerns (Johnson, 2020b). The organization – founded

with the mission of focusing on affordable housing and eviction prevention and education –

specifically targeted the project due to its size and potential effect on the county (Johnson,

2020b). ONE Wake issued the letter as a response to feeling their concerns had not been

adequately met (Johnson, 2020b). Kane’s Bonner Gaylord responded, “I don’t know where that is

coming from” (Johnson, 2020b). ONE Wake stated they hoped the end result would the see the

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issues of stormwater protection, affordable housing, and contractor diversity addressed (Johnson,

2020b).

Gaylord noted ONE Wake had made various requests – including a minimum of 20%

affordable housing capacity at Downtown South and a minimum wage of $20 per hour for

workers “in and at the development” (Johnson, 2020b). Gaylord noted the minimum wage

request was simply not feasible, but that some of ONE Wake’s requests could be addressed with

the requested “tax increment grant” (Johnson, 2020b). Still, ONE Wake members like Rose

Cornelious told reporters, “We don’t want gentrification. ... We don’t want houses and

institutions flooded” adding, “We just want equity and fairness … And we want everybody in the

community to rejoice that this project is going up” (Johnson, 2020b).

Others asked for City Council members to recuse themselves from a vote on the rezoning

because they had received campaign contributions from Kane (Johnson, 2020b). Reports

indicated Kane contributed $5,400 to some members, including Mayor Baldwin, and $2,500 to

others (Johnson, 2020b). Additional Kane associates also donated to campaigns (Johnson, 2020b).

The divisiveness of the project was becoming clear. Still, the City Council pushed on

toward its final two sessions of the year: an open public hearing on Dec 15th and a session on

December 17th in which they were expected to vote on the proposal (Johnson, 2020b). The week

prior to those final meetings, the Raleigh Planning Commission voted unanimously against the

Downtown South project, even though that resolution was non-binding (Johnson, 2020c).

Commissioner Nicole Bennett expressed disappointment that the project was not being used as

an opportunity to address systemic equities in the city, stating:

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“I don’t want us to limit positive outcomes for south Raleigh. These lives matter. Black

lives matter. I believe a vote to approve this rezoning, at this time, is contrary to that fact.

And I don’t think we want to be on that side of history” (Johnson, 2020c).

Developers added individuals to their project team to act as community advocates to work on

low-income housing concerns and develop relationships with female and minority-owned

businesses (Johnson, 2020c). LaVelle Moton, head coach of the North Carolina Central men’s

basketball team, spoke at the public hearing and formally expressed his support for the project –

stating that he and his local non-profit would work to bring “significant participation of local

minority businesses throughout the entire development, beginning with the contracts and

construction” (Johnson, 2020c).

After more than two hours of public comments during an open hearing, the City Council

voted 7-1 to approve the rezoning of the site and then confirmed the vote again on the 17th, based

on required stipulations (Johnson, 2020d). Community members and residents continued to voice

concerns (Johnson, 2020d). Gaylord dismissed many of the objections as misinformed or

personal attacks on Kane Realty, and he urged the city to advance the proposal (Johnson, 2020d).

Council member Corey Branch offered an honest assessment, stating, “Is this project perfect?

I’m going to go ahead and tell you it’s not…If we wait for a perfect project, as some of the elders

would say…‘We will be waiting until the roosters come home’” (Johnson, 2020d). Despite

continued community concern about the economic and environmental impact of the Downtown

South project, it had achieved its first critical step towards completion, and Steve Malik had

achieved his first step of progress towards bringing a soccer stadium to Downtown Raleigh

nearly four years to the day after first announcing his ambition.

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What’s Happened Since?

On December 31st, an official team release announced that Malik, Kane Realty, and the

development team for the Downtown South project had closed on the acquisition of the final

parcel of land needed (North Carolina FC, 2020). The team had not issued a release about the

project since Malik revealed renderings for the design in June of 2019, and Malik was rarely

mentioned in local articles that chronicled the city’s long journey to approving the

development’s rezoning amid community concerns. However, Malik took this opportunity to

make an official statement:

This final announcement for the year is a significant moment for the district and the city

as we move one step closer towards delivering critical infrastructure and community

benefits to a widely underdeveloped area in Raleigh. This parcel of land has the potential

to shape South Raleigh for generations to come (North Carolina FC, 2020).

As the calendar turned to 2021, North Carolina FC released more announcements. The

first was that the North Carolina FC men’s team would be stepping down from the second

division of American professional soccer, USL Championship league, to the third division, USL

One (Andrejev, 2021). The organization explained the move was a way to “emphasize its role in

youth-to-pro soccer development” as the team would begin to increase first-team minutes for

young players and focus more financial resources on youth development (Andrejev, 2021).

Malik noted the move would also allow the organization to focus on its heralded North Carolina

Courage women’s team and the work to be done on the Downtown South stadium build (North

Carolina FC, 2021).

While the announcement signaled a dialing back for the men’s team, the next would

represent a significant development for the women’s side. On January 28th, 2021 the North

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Carolina Courage announced Naomi Osaka, three-time grand slam champion and tennis icon,

would be joining Malik as an owner of the Courage (NC Courage, 2021). In the announcement,

Osaka spoke of the importance of female role models in shaping her as a female athlete and

added, “My investment in the North Carolina Courage is far beyond just being a team owner, it’s

an investment in amazing women who are role models and leaders in their fields and inspirations

to all young female athletes” (NC Courage, 2021). Osaka added, “I also admire everything the

Courage does for diversity and equality in the community, which I greatly look forward to

supporting and driving forward” (NC Courage, 2021). General Manager, Curt Johnson, echoed

that sentiment, stating, “Naomi is the perfect fit as an owner because her values sync so well

with our club” (NC Courage, 2021). He elaborated, “A team with an exemplary and trailblazing

roster of world-class professional athletes supported by a globally influential icon is a seminal

moment for our sport and the Courage organization” (NC Courage, 2021). In late February,

Osaka defeated Serena Williams in front of 1.41 million viewers on ESPN 2, in route to claiming

the Women’s Australian Open Championship (Galvez, 2021). She wore a North Carolina

Courage hat to her celebratory press conference (Australian Open TV, 2021).

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Charlotte Football Club

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Early MLS Expansion Attempts Expose Difficulty in Municipal Approval Process

Much like the Triangle, Charlotte has a long history of a professional soccer presence.

The Charlotte Eagles were formed in 1991 and began competing in the lower divisions of United

States professional soccer through the 90s and early 2000s (Hines, 2020). In late 2014, an

ownership group named Queen City Soccer Club, LLC announced it was acquiring the United

Soccer League Professional rights from the Charlotte Eagles, who would move to the amateur-

level Premiere Development League (Charlotte City Center, 2014). The new ownership group,

led by President Jim McPhilliamy, renamed the professional team the Charlotte Independence,

announced proposed plans for the team to play its home games in American Legion Memorial

Stadium in 2015 and share the field with the Charlotte professional lacrosse franchise who were

also operated by the McPhilliamy led ownership group (Charlotte City Center, 2014). While the

proposal to move the teams into Memorial Stadium represented a future project, the team kicked

off its inaugural season in 2015 in a near-by smaller stadium at the Ramblewood Soccer

Complex (Fay, 2015).

In October 2016, Queen City Sports Group hired boutique sports investment bank

Accelerate Sports to pursue investors for a future MLS expansion bid (Spanberg, 2016).

Accelerate Sports CEO, Brent Lawrence, stated he believed Charlotte had the right qualities for

an MLS team, including: a growing population of millennials, a top 25 TV market, a strong

business sector, and a geographic location that would create natural rivalries with existing MLS

teams (Spanberg, 2016). Charlotte had hosted International Champions Cup matches since 2014

in its NFL stadium, all drawing at least 50,000 fans, including a match between Liverpool and

A.C. Milan the filled 69,000 of the stadium’s 74,000 seats (Spanberg, 2016).

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In late 2016, a second ownership group, led by billionaire Bruton Smith and his son

Marcus, emerged with a competitive plan to bring MLS soccer to the Charlotte area (Peralta,

2016). Just days before the MLS’ expansion bid deadline of January 31st, tensions between the

two ownership groups heightened when McPhilliamy claimed the Smiths used architectural

plans commissioned by the Charlotte Independence without the team’s “knowledge or consent”

in a presentation to the MLS (Harrison, 2017). Smith allegedly used the plans for his proposal of

a $175 million expansion of the same stadium – which would include nearly $44 million dollar

contributions from both the City of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County (Harrison, 2017).

McPhilliamy revealed that Mecklenburg County had asked him to “stand down” on his plans and

support the bid from Marcus Smith, adding that he felt “run over” in the process (Harrison,

2017). He added, “Right now, I am being asked by many people to back a bid for Major League

Soccer that, if successful, will likely harm both of my teams” (Harrison, 2017). McPhilliamy said

Mecklenburg County promised to ask Marcus Smith to partner with the Charlotte Independence

to promote “soccer continuity” in Charlotte, but he added, “We have tried to partner with the

Smiths multiple times appealing to their sense of community but to no avail. Meetings with them

have produced nothing toward a partnership” (Harrison, 2017).

The day after McPhilliamy’s comments, Mecklenburg County commissioners voted to

approve $118 million in funding for Smiths’ proposed renovations plans for Memorial Stadium –

their $44 million contribution plus funding for construction costs for which they would be

reimbursed (Henderson, 2017) However, the same day, Charlotte’s City Council cancelled a vote

on the proposed funding, with Mayor Jennifer Roberts stating, “While this (proposal) is very

promising, it is clear that we are not prepared to move forward at this time on the current soccer

proposal” (Henderson, 2017). Officials that voted no believed it was irresponsible to force an

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approval of such a large allocation of government funds just to meet the Smiths’ impending MLS

bid deadline, with one commissioner calling the vote “the biggest travesty in governance I’ve

had anything to do with” (Henderson, 2017).

Despite the late January disagreements, Smith announced he would move forward with

submitting his bid to MLS on January 31st (Harrison & Peralta, 2017a). At a press conference

announcing the move, Speedway Motorsports executive Mike Burch cautioned the city’s lack of

urgency in addressing the funding, stating, “Every day that goes by that we’re not putting our

best foot forward is a day we potentially risk falling behind” (Harrison & Peralta, 2017a). Burch

added that he and Marcus Smith began their original discussion with “city and county officials”

in September of 2016; however, some city council members like Patsy Kinsley noted after the

press conference that they had only been told about the plans “a week ago” (Harrison & Peralta,

2017a). Additionally, when questioned about whether the Smith-led group had contacted Jim

McPhilliamy and the Charlotte Independence about partnering on the MLS bid, Burch could only

offer the vague response, “We have had continued discussions” (Harrison & Peralta, 2017a).

The disconnect between the city and county would continue into 2017, as MLS explored

the twelve markets that had submitted bids. Smith reiterated in May that there continued to be a

“tremendous amount of support” for a bid in the community and among potential corporate

sponsors, but sources close to the situation noted there had not been any formal discussions

between Smith and city officials since January (Peralta & Harrison, 2017). City Council member

Julie Eiselt told reporters, “To my knowledge the city is not considering professional soccer right

now” (Peralta & Harrison, 2017). Mayoral candidates voiced their opinions with Joel Ford

saying, “It goes to the heart and the soul of the city when we can fund soccer stadiums for

billionaires but can’t find the wherewithal to build a grocery store in a food desert” (Peralta &

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Harrison, 2017). Current Mayor, Jennifer Roberts, noted, “I think there is room for more

conversation. (But) I think $40 million from the city is too high,” also voicing concern from the

Smiths’ lack of willingness to work with the Charlotte Independence ownership group (Peralta &

Harrison, 2017).

MLS executives visited the Queen City in mid-July, with MLS president Mark Abbott

calling the visit “positive and productive” and heralding the community’s sense of pride and

unity “not only in their desire to bring Major League Soccer here but in their desire to continue

to build a great community” (Harrison & Peralta, 2017b). However, questions about the actual

unity of key constituencies remained in doubt as the city implied no more than $30 million could

be granted to the development project (Harrison & Peralta, 2017b). An actual vote was not

expected in an upcoming session, and tensions with Mecklenburg County officials continued to

rise. The county threatened to pull their approved funding from the stadium deal if the city didn’t

join by August (Harrison & Peralta, 2017b). The MLS visit to the city was capped with a

lackluster rally hosted by the Smiths featuring live music, food trucks, and t-shirts that supported

the “MLS4CLT” campaign (Harrison & Peralta, 2017b). Mecklenburg police estimated only

about 500 individuals had attended throughout the afternoon (Harrison & Peralta, 2017b).

As city officials continued to push the project aside, county commissioners finally voted

to retract their once committed $118 million of funding on August 2nd (Harrison & Peralta,

2017c). Their only contribution would be donating the Memorial Stadium land to the city of

Charlotte (Harrison & Peralta, 2017c). On October 23rd, the Smith-backed bid was dealt its final

blow when City Council member James Mitchell confirmed an agreement would not be reached

by the time MLS announced its expansion finalists in December (Peralta & Portillo, 2017). The

main barriers were sorting the ownership of the proposed Memorial Stadium site, officials

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lacking the desire to risk a controversial vote, and stiff competition from competing cities

(Peralta & Portillo, 2017). Mitchell cited the $275 million bond package Nashville was

considering for their stadium plans that was well above what Charlotte could spend (Peralta &

Portillo, 2017). Smith called the development “sad for the city” and told reporters he was still

interested in acquiring an MLS franchise, but he offered no desire to cover the near $100 million

to cover the proposed stadium plans on his own (Peralta & Portillo, 2017). Mitchell said both the

city and the Smith-backed ownership group agreed they would continue to pursue an MLS

expansion franchise and hoped to be considered in future rounds of expansion (Peralta &

Portillo, 2017). Nashville was awarded an expansion franchise on December 20th, 2017, while a

second went to Cincinnati on May 29, 2018 (Brennan, 2018; Major League Soccer, 2017c).

A New Name in Town

On July 9th, Charlotte welcomed a new, major constituent of the business and sports

community when David Tepper finalized a $2.275 billion acquisition of the city’s NFL

franchise, the Carolina Panthers (Newton, 2018). In his introductory press conference as the new

owner, Tepper mention the possibility of bringing an MLS team to Charlotte (Voth, 2018). Later

that month, MLS commissioner Don Garber acknowledged receiving interest from Tepper and

acknowledged MLS was “intrigued by Charlotte” and the city’s new, high-profile NFL owner

(Spanberg, 2018b). Garber stated during an online interview that the MLS still favors soccer-

specific stadiums, although he acknowledged there was room for exceptions as he pointed to the

recent success of Atlanta’s MLS team sharing a stadium with an NFL franchise (Spanberg,

2018b). Jim McPhilliamy had secured an agreement for a $32 million rebuild of the contentious

Memorial Stadium site earlier in 2018 that would offer a home to the Charlotte Independence

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and his major league lacrosse team (Harrison, 2018). That deal offered him the first right of

refusal if a future MLS team desired to move into the Memorial Stadium site (Spanberg, 2018b).

In September, Tepper made a strategically soccer-based hire when he brought on Tom Glick as

the new Carolina Panthers team president (Peralta, 2018). Glick’s resume included acting as

Chief Operating Officer of global soccer giant Manchester City Football Club (Peralta, 2018).

While at the club, he facilitated an overhaul of Manchester City’s stadium, the creation of a state-

of-the-art training facility, and collaboration with Amazon Prime on a docu-series about the team

called “All Or Nothing” to drive fan engagement and global appeal (Peralta, 2018). In 2015, he

moved to New York to oversee the launch of Manchester City’s new MLS affiliate franchise –

New York City Football Club (Peralta, 2018). While Tepper noted that Glick’s responsibilities

would include would spearheading marketing and major developmental and infrastructure

changes in uptown Charlotte, he also acknowledged that Glick’s experience with MLS “didn’t

hurt” in his selection at team president (Peralta, 2018).

MLS filled three of its original four announced expansion spots when they awarded

Austin a franchise in January of 2019 (Associated Press, 2019). Still, the MLS had heard

compelling expansion pitches from Sacramento and St. Louis in April of 2019, and

commissioner Garber revealed in the MLS Board of Governors meeting that month “We of late

have been in very positive discussions in Las Vegas and in Charlotte” (Peralta & Rodrigue,

2019). So, it was no surprise when the league officially announced on April 18th it would be

broadening its expansion to 30 teams (Major League Soccer, 2019a). It was revealed Tepper had

sent a survey to Carolina Panthers’ season ticket holders to gauge their interest in an MLS team,

a survey which also suggested that the Panthers’ Bank of America Stadium could feature “a

more intimate soccer configuration to create an exciting game-day atmosphere for MLS home

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matches” (Peralta & Rodrigue, 2019). Tepper revealed both his preference and the practicality in

utilizing Bank of America stadium as the home of an MLS team, stating, “This is the best chance

at the cheapest price… Even if we say to the city we need some money to re-do the stadium, it’s

so cheap, versus $300 million that you need to build a new stadium” (Peralta & Rodrigue, 2019).

On July 19, 2019 Ally Financial posted a promotional YouTube video with the message

“#CLTwantssoccer;” a few days later, it was revealed the bank holdings company had agreed to

a deal to help Charlotte land an MLS team (Ally, 2019; Dixon, 2019). The deal would see Ally

leverage its presence in the soccer community as sponsors of the International Champions Cup in

exchange for the front-of-jersey sponsorship rights to an MLS team in Charlotte (Dixon, 2019).

It was reported 60 local companies had also committed to purchasing luxury suites at Bank of

America stadium for an MLS team season (Dixon, 2019). Earlier in the month, Charlotte had

reached a five-year agreement with Relevant Sports Group to host international soccer matches

in Bank of America Stadium (Peralta & Marks, 2019). While appearing at a promotional event

before an International Champions Cup match in Charlotte on July 20th, U.S. Women’s National

Team icon Megan Rapinoe – fresh off a World Cup Championship – offered her praise for

Charlotte, stating it was ready to “blow up” as a “big-time soccer city” (Fowler, 2019a). A Gold.

Cup match in June featuring the Mexico National Team brough 59,283 fans to Bank of America

Stadium, and in early October, the U.S. Women’s National Team would play an exhibition

match at the stadium in front of over 30,000 fans as part of their World Cup “Victory Tour”

(Coleman, 2019a; Fowler, 2019b).

In late September, reports circulated that Tepper may ask the city for between $100 and

$215 million to help renovate Bank of America stadium as a part of his efforts to land an MLS

team (Morrill et al., 2019). The reports also specified that Tepper planned to cover $400 million

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in expansion fees, team salaries and other costs himself (Morrill et al., 2019). Commissioner

Garber offered a boost in confidence while speaking at the annual state of the league address on

November 8th, "It's fair to say that Charlotte has done a lot of work, to move their bid really to

the front of line" (Carlisle, 2019b). While MLS was still expressing its preference for smaller

soccer-specific stadiums, Garber indicated Tepper’s group had been pointing to the upside of

having MLS teams play in NFL stadiums – citing record-breaking crowds in both Atlanta and

Seattle utilizing that model (Carlisle, 2019b; Smoot, 2019a). But, that plan was still contingent on

the city agreeing to help upgrade to Bank of America Stadium, one of the oldest in the NFL

(Kuznitz, 2019). City Council member, James Mitchell, revealed in early December that the city

was prepared to offer Tepper a smaller package of abound $100 million for the stadium upgrades

(Kuznitz, 2019). Yet, others disputed an amount had been set (Kuznitz, 2019).

On December 11th, a letter from mayor Vi Lyles to the MLS Commissioner was publicly

released, and it revelated the city, in a closed-door session, was willing to set aside $110 million

in hospitality funds to help land an MLS expansion franchise and renovate Bank of America

stadium (Kuznitz et al., 2019). Funding would also apply to the Eastland Mall site – an area

community member noted needed redevelopment – where the MLS team’s executive offices and

practice fields were proposed to be built (Kuznitz et al., 2019). Lyles’ letter to Commissioner

touted the collaborative relationship and unified vision between Tepper and the city, and she

voiced hope for a long-term relationship between Charlotte and MLS (Kuznitz et al., 2019).

Despite the progress, the City Council still needed to take an official vote on the incentives

package (Kuznitz et al., 2019). On Monday, December 16th, an official press release from Tepper

Sports Entertainment announced Garber, Tepper, and mayor Lyles would gather for a “special

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announcement” on Tuesday, December 17th at the Mint Museum in uptown Charlotte (Smoot et

al., 2019a).

The Birth of an MLS Expansion Franchise

It was apparent Charlotte was about to be officially awarded an MLS franchise. MLS

teased the announcement with a tweet from its official account the night of December 16th that

said “Goodnight” with a picture of the Charlotte skyline (Major League Soccer, 2019e). MLS

provided a live stream of Charlotte’s introductory press conference the next day that received

over 25,000 views (Major League Soccer, 2019f). During the announcement, Commissioner

Garber invited Tepper to the podium, “It is now my pleasure to welcome Charlotte to Major

League Soccer” (Smoot et al., 2019b). An ecstatic Tepper said, “[Charlotte is] going to be the

greatest city for MLS to be in,” while also affirming his belief about Charlotte; “We’re the hot

city” (Smoot et al., 2019b). Garber told reporters that Charlotte met MLS’ three key criteria for a

team in a committed ownership, public partnerships, and support from the local community,

adding that a “downtown stadium” was also a huge desire from the league (Smoot et al., 2019b).

Mayor Lyles and other city officials raved about the opportunity to revitalize the Eastland Mall

site where the new MLS team headquarters would go, “We know we’re ushering in new

opportunities… [sports] can be the catalyst for the transformation we think is important” (Smoot

et al., 2019b).

More than 60 fans were in attendance for the announcement, including members of the

recently created supporters’ group, “Mint City Collective,” and Mexican soccer fan club “Pancho

Villa’s Army” (Smoot et al., 2019b). Nick Irwin and Tim Rebich, executives with Varsity

Partners that helped organize Mint City Collective, noted the group had amassed 600 members

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since its foundation in June (Mint City Collective, n.d.; Smoot et al., 2019b). Over 500 members

attended a thank you party hosted by MLS, and they later flooded the streets of uptown

Charlotte, chanting and wearing Mint City Collective jerseys with “Day 0” printed on the back

(Marusak, 2019). Member Matthew Cirullo spoke of a belief that an MLS team could offer a

collective cause and common ground for the diverse citizenry of Charlotte, saying, “This is

something we can stand together on and unite the city” (Marusak, 2019). Antonio Sanchez, a

member of Pancho Villa’s Army, echoed the sentiment, saying, “I hope it brings the American

and Hispanic communities together” (Smoot et al., 2019b).

Organizational Activity Begins

On December 19th, the organization quickly established its official presence, launching

the website charlottemls2021.com and posting many tweets throughout the day under the handle

“@CharlotteMLS,” including a video of David Tepper punting a soccer ball into the crowd at the

press conference (Charlotte FC, 2019a). Another video featuring Charlotte influencers

welcoming the MLS team to the city, was posted the same day and received over 67,000 views

(Charlotte FC, 2019b). It included prominent members of the Carolina Panthers and Charlotte

Hornets teams, NASCAR drivers Jimmy Johnson and Kevin Harvick, regional music artists, and

even the star of The Bachelorette – Emily Maynard (Charlotte FC, 2019b). Newly hired Yahoo

Sports soccer writer, Ryan Bailey, posted interviews with Tepper and excited fans throughout the

night (Charlotte FC, 2019c; Charlotte FC, 2019d). Bailey would also become a key contributor to

original content on the organization’s website and social media channels. On January 6th, Bailey

published his first of a series of ten articles entitled “MLS 101,” which served as a guide to MLS

intricacies including the draft process, roster structure, and schedule (Charlotte Football Club,

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n.d.). Bailey also spearheaded the team’s “Between Two Pints” series - another feature on the

Charlotte MLS website (Charlotte Football Club, n.d.). The first of the videos featured Baily and

newly appointed Sporting Director, Zoran Krneta, discussing how to build a successful club over

a shared pint of beer (Charlotte FC, 2020a). Bailey would go on to publish 24 of the videos in

which he interviewed members of the team’s staff, as well as national soccer journalists and

broadcast personalities (Charlotte Football Club, n.d.).

The organization also prioritized hires to build in-roads with the local community and its

charitable organizations. On January 3rd, Dustin Swinehart was hired as Director of Community

Engagement (Charlotte FC, 2020b). Swinehart had played 12 years of professional soccer for the

Charlotte Eagles, coached at multiple levels locally, and served as the Executive Director of a

charity in East Charlotte that utilized soccer to connect with refugee and at-risk members of the

community (Charlotte FC, 2020b). Jorge Hererra, a native of Colombia who played professional

soccer in South America and Charlotte, was hired as the team’s Community Engagement

Manager and added strong connections to the city’s Hispanic community (Charlotte FC, 2020c).

The organization stated its vision for community engagement was to “encourage the growth of

soccer and to help untie the city through a shared passion for the game” through initiatives like

“after-school programs, fan engagement events and improved access to soccer facilities”

(Charlotte FC, 2020c). Finally, the organization added NFL on-air reporter, Tiffany Blackmon, as

a host and producer of content that would also work closely with the community relations team

(Charlotte FC, 2020d). Blackmon hosted a light-hearted series called “That’s the CLTea” that

featured virtual discussions with top national soccer reporters, former national team and MLS

players, and Charlotte influencers, with an emphasis on guests with North Carolina roots when

available (Charlotte Football Club, n.d.). A total of fifteen episodes interviews that were

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broadcast live on social media throughout 2020 (Charlotte Football Club, n.d.). However, one of

the most significant events in national history would soon change the way in which the

organization engaged with its community.

Community Engagement Amidst the COVID-19 and the “Black Lives Matter” Movement

On March 19th, the organization posted a short video on social media in response to the

Covid-19 pandemic that was quickly changing life across the nation (Charlotte FC, 2020e). The

video featured all members of the organization’s community engagement team and encouraged

Charlotte residents to band together and adhere to CDC guidelines to wear masks, socially

distance, and contact a doctor if feeling ill (Charlotte FC, 2020e). The organization released

additional videos in weeks to come that highlighted donations of $2.6 million towards pandemic-

related community needs and thanked local doctors and medical professionals for their efforts in

the difficult time (Charlotte FC, 2020f; Charlotte FC, 2020g). One lengthy and emotional video

posted on April 10th showed empty college and professional stadiums across the Carolinas while

offering hope in the message “We are nothing without each other” (Charlotte FC, 2020i). It

gained more than 555,000 views on Twitter (Charlotte FC, 2020i). The organization also used

social media and the “#MLSUnites” hashtag to spotlight individuals who were working in their

community for charitable causes and pandemic assistance efforts. #MLSUnites twitter posts from

the organization featured groups including Soccer Foundation of Charlotte, Project 658, Steve

Smith Foundation’s Family Wellness Center in East Charlotte as well as one local restaurant

delivering free food to frontline workers, Mecklenburg County schools, and charitable

organizations (Charlotte FC, 2020j; Charlotte FC, 2020k; Charlotte FC, 2020l; Charlotte FC,

2020n). In May the organization released an article on their website entitled “How to help the

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Charlotte MLS community during the COVID-19 pandemic” which listed a “selection of

charities and initiatives looking for donations and support,” and Tiffany Blackmon encouraged

members of the Charlotte community to participate in the “All In Challenge” on social media – a

national fundraiser supporting various large charities to help deliver food to those in need

(Bailey, 2020a; Charlotte FC, 2020o).

The organization also took opportunities to address the “Black Lives Matter” movement

in the summer of 2020 by posting articles on their website featuring non-profits addressing social

justice issues in the local community. Street Soccer 658, and its director Peter Frink, who work

with African immigrant youth in East Charlotte were featured in the first of these articles

(Bailey, 2020b). Frink noted of the BLM movement, “It’s been a really impressive response from

the community. It’s a shame it has taken this long to happen, but our players are telling us they

now feel hope in the future” (Bailey, 2020b). A second feature spotlighted Creative Player

Foundation and its co-founder, Daniel Arauajo, which also utilizes soccer to engage with at-risk

youth but on the opposite side of town (Bailey, 2020c). Serving mostly members of the Latino

and African American communities, Arauajo noted, “the protests have brought a lot of

conversation and concerns from both kids and parents to the table” (Bailey, 2020c). Araujo said

he had found the one thing underserved communities need more than anything else is to be

heard, adding, “Right now, listening to others to get a greater understanding of their situation is

key… Without empathy and without understanding, it is difficult to move the needle forward”

(Bailey, 2020c).

While tackling the serious nature of a national pandemic and the Black Live Matter

movement, the organization also tried to mix-in engaging fans with a little more brevity amidst

the difficulty circumstances of the time. They posted a video on social media of Dustin

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Swinehart shooting a soccer ball into a basketball goal with hashtag #SoccerAtHome (Charlotte

FC, 2020h). The post encouraged users to send the organization their own videos from home, and

many were reposted and featured on the team’s social media outlets. The team posted an

additional interactive tweet with the hashtag #FlyKitFriday, where they asked fans to send them

pictures of the soccer jerseys that initially inspired their love of soccer (Charlotte FC, 2020q).

Many of the fans’ response images were re-posted. Additionally, the organization continued to

pump out engaging videos with marquee guests in the “That’s the CLTea” and “Between Two

Pints” series (Charlotte Football Club, n.d.). The team actually utilized social media to solicit

questions from fans in advance of “Between Two Pints” episodes – effectively turning them into

“Q&A” sessions with team officials, soccer journalist, and national broadcast guests – giving

them further incentive to tune into the interviews to see what questions were answered (Charlotte

FC, 2020m; Charlotte FC, 2020p; Charlotte FC, 2020r; Charlotte FC, 2020s).

The Process of Branding the Franchise

The announcement of a new franchise’s name, colors, and release of its

uniforms can be one of the most highly anticipated moments for fans

and casual observers during the course of a team’s journey. For

example, @CharlotteMLS’ second tweet, issued just moments after the

press conference announcing the team, garnered an immediate reply

from the Catawba Valley Youth Soccer Association with the following

mockups of potential uniform designs:

(CVYSA, 2019).

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A week before Charlotte was officially awarded an MLS expansion franchise, reports emerged

that eight potential names had been registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

(Smoot, 2019b). These names included:

Charlotte FC Charlotte Crown FC Charlotte Fortune FC

Charlotte Monarchs FC Charlotte Athletics FC Charlotte Town FC

Carolina Gliders FC All Carolina FC

(Smoot, 2019b).

Individuals began to chime in immediately, with multiple responding directly to the

report on The Charlotte Observer’s article with comments and suggestions (Smoot, 2019b).

Team officials let discussions run on social media while working in the background on an

announcement. The announcement of the name and colors were considered in late March but

postponed by the pandemic (Andrejev, 2020a). In late May, Tom Glick hinted an announcement

date would be coming, noting the importance of the moment (Andrejev, 2020a). In late June,

news broke that the announcement of the team’s name, logo, and colors would again be delayed

(Andrejev, 2020b). The source cited the pandemic and nationwide social justice protests as

reasons, “With everything going on in the world, we feel like it’s not the right time” (Andrejev,

2020b). July was forecast as the new announcement date (Andrejev, 2020b).

On July 9th, the team released a short video on social media with the caption “Soon”

(Charlotte FC, 2020t). The video showed multiple tweets from individuals asking for the

branding to be released, followed by the date “7.22” and “Are you ready?” gaining over 57,000

views on Twitter (Charlotte FC, 2020t). The team followed the teaser with another post the

following Monday that showed a list of the eight potential names with “Charlotte Fortune FC”

crossed off (Charlotte FC, 2020u). That post on Twitter received 980 replies from interested

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parties supplying responses and opinions on the team’s potential name (Charlotte FC, 2020u).

Thursday of the same week, the team posted another teaser video that showed a partially

completed mural in an undisclosed location that displayed uptown Charlotte, Bank of America

Stadium, and a partial logo of a crown (Charlotte FC, 2020v). The video reaffirmed the July 22nd

announcement date (Charlotte FC, 2020v).

The next day, July 17th, the team announced it would be delaying its inaugural season by

one year to 2022 (Andrejev, 2022c). A statement announced the decision was made by the MLS

and noted that the Sacramento and St. Louis teams would also delay their debuts until to 2023

(Andrejev, 2022c). Tom Glick noted in a statement the Coronavirus pandemic had impacted

“essential initiatives” and ensured that it was in the best interest of the team and the fans “to take

additional time to ensure a successful inaugural season” (Andrejev, 2020c). Glick stated, “We

owe it to everyone involved — our supporters, our partners, the community, to build it right and

get it right” (Andrejev, 2020c).

Potentially attempting to mitigate the loss of momentum caused by the delay, the team

posted on social media the next day, “We’re back with another elimination!,” showing the team

name “All Carolina FC” crossed off of the list of the potential names (Charlotte FC, 2020w). The

announcement did see a response of 184 replies and 576 likes on Twitter, although that was

markedly down from the replies to the first elimination Tweet (Charlotte FC, 2020u; Charlotte

FC, 2020w). Another post came two days later on Monday, July 20th, showing “Charlotte

Monarchs FC” crossed off (Charlotte FC, 2020x). The final teaser video before the

announcement was released the next morning on July 21st with the caption, “The wait is almost

over” (Charlotte FC, 2020y). The video began with a slow camera pan inside Bank of America

stadium, which began to reveal a circular emblematic logo on the jumbotron before a quick cut

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to the words “Tomorrow,” “Are you ready?,” and the details of the announcement (Charlotte FC,

2020y). The video gained over 102,500 views on Twitter (Charlotte FC, 2020y).

The next day, quick videos and posts counted down the hours and minutes to the 11am

broadcast, which was presented by Ally Financial and streamed on social media and the team’s

website (Charlotte FC, 2020z). In the near 35-minute-long broadcast, Bailey, Blackmon, and

Glick revealed the team’s name, “Charlotte Football Club,” and its crest (Charlotte FC, 2020z).

Glick told reporters the name, which would be referred to as “Charlotte FC” or “CLT FC” for

short, was made in consultation with thousands of fans (Andrejev, 2020d). Glick revealed,

although “This is a club for all of North and South Carolinians,” there was “a clear preference for

the name to include Charlotte” (Andrejev, 2020d). The team’s crest, created by Doubleday &

Cartwright, included a white crown with four points, a nod to the city’s nickname “The Queen

City” and it’s four wards (Andrejev, 2020d). It was the same crown that appeared in the social

media “teaser” video a few weeks prior (Charlotte FC, 2020v). The crown was at the center of

the crest, encircled by a teal and black circle that featured the team’s name with the phrase

“Minted 2022” – a nod to city’s financial history (Andrejev, 2020d).

The team’s secondary logo, which featured an interlocking “CLTFC” monogram, was

called “a standout feature of the brand” by Doubleday & Cartwright Executive Creative Director

Peter Christofferson (Bailey, 2020d). Offering a regal feel, Christofferson added, “This typeface

felt unique within the league, as it doesn’t exist with any other teams. It feels both historical and

modern” (Bailey, 2020d). Doubleday & Cartwright Director of Strategy, Kate Perkins, added,

“Our approach is fan-driven… In order to get the fans-eye view, we immersed ourselves in

Charlotte culture,” further revealing that the team had spent two weeks in Charlotte visiting local

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bars, talking to as many fans as possible, and spending time with the Mint City Collective

supporters’ group (Bailey, 2020d).

The colors of teal, black, silver and white were unsurprisingly the same as those of the

Carolina Panthers, meant to establish a “synergy” among the two teams who share Bank of

America Stadium (Andrejev, 2020d). Glick echoed the earlier comparisons to MLS teams in

Atlanta and Seattle where the MLS team shared a stadium with the city’s NFL team, and he

noted the potential for “massive crowds” (Andrejev, 2020d). Glick noted the priority was to fill

the lower bowl of Bank of America Stadium (about 37,5000 seats) for soccer games, and that he

had seen a few hundred season ticket deposits come in that day in addition to the 25,000 that had

already been made (Andrejev, 2020d). Reports stated the team’s jerseys would be revealed the

next summer (2021), and the production schedule was dependent upon Adidas – the jersey

manufacturer (Andrejev, 2020d).

What’s Happened Since

Since the initial announcements, CFC added new corporate backing, such as real-estate

sponsor Redbud group, announced the signing of new players, and added a team president in

former “sports marketing chief” of Anheuser-Busch, Nick Kelly (Andrejev, 2020e; Andrejev,

2020f; Andrejev, 2020g; Charlotte FC, 2020aa). Additionally, fall 2020 saw Charlotte FC’s

Academy teams get up and running by joining the newly formed “MLS Next” youth

development system (Charlotte FC, 2020ab; Charlotte FC, 2020ac; Charlotte FC, 2020ad). The

team was forced to furlough 16 full-time employees and lay off at least three others in August

due to the Coronavirus pandemic with Panthers Vice president of Communications and External

Affairs, Steve Drummond, noting, “We are hopeful these measures are temporary and that health

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and economic conditions improve in the near future” (Getzenberg, 2020). Fortunately, the team

was able to bring back “a vast majority of those workers, while only eliminating a handful of

positions” in February 2021 (Getzenberg, 2021). Tepper also offered Bank of America Stadium

as a max vaccination site, and it became one of the largest vaccination sites in the country

(Marusak, 2021).

A few organizational issues and concerns also arose for the organization, beginning with

pulling plans to locate team headquarters at the Eastland Mall site, which was a selling point in

city council negotiations (Getzenberg & Smoot, 2020). Those original plans were put on hold

due to impacts the pandemic had on the city’s hospitality tax, new plans were crafted for The

Charlotte FC “Elite Academy” headquarters to be placed at the site instead (Getzenberg &

Smoot, 2020). Reactions from city officials were mixed, and as result of the decision to relocate

the franchise’s main headquarters, the city reduced funding to the MLS team from $110 million

to no more than $35 million (Getzenberg & Smoot, 2020). And, while some city officials

continued to tout the “economic jolt” and possibility for community use of soccer fields, camps,

festivals and tournaments, the desire for redevelopment in East Charlotte and concerns over

gentrification began to mount (Kuznitz, 2020). In January 2021, Charlotte Pipe and Foundry

Company – a site Tepper had mentioned as a possible location for a new stadium and even

attempted to purchase – filed a rezoning petition that would allow for “a range of uses, including

retail, hotels, restaurants and stadiums” (Chemtob, 2021; Chemtob & Getzenberg, 2020). It

remains to be seen how Tepper’s handling of the team headquarters and Eastland Mall

developments will affect his ability to negotiate public funding for a new stadium in the future.

Another issue emerged when fans voiced outrage over the team’s ticket prices. On

February 19th, the team released a video outlining the available options and pricing – with the

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cheapest season tickets costing $630 for 18 matches in 2022 (Andrejev & Getzenberg, 2021).

The pricing would rank Charlotte as the third-most expensive among 2021 MLS franchises in

ticket cost per game, a hefty price for a team that had yet to play a single match (Andrejev &

Getzenberg, 2021). Compounding the issue was the requirement of the additional purchase of

PSLs (personal seat licenses) for mid-to-upper tier seating packages (Andrejev & Getzenberg,

2021). While PSLs would offer fans exclusive, long-term ownership rights to a specific seat for a

price of at least $350; fans like Matt Lawson were quick to note that Tepper had expressed a

desire to move the team to a new stadium sooner than later and PSLs are not transferrable

(Andrejev & Getzenberg, 2021). When including a required PSL purchase, the average season

ticket price skyrockets to $54.44 per game, nearly $20 per game more than the next highest MLS

team’s season ticket pricing (Andrejev & Getzenberg, 2021). Fans voiced their displeasure by

replying to Charlotte’s “ticket pricing” video on social media with sentiments like “My friends

and I are looking forward to getting our deposits back! Thanks for the attractive pricing!” and

“You could probably fly to Europe, catch an EPL game and come back for a comparable cost ...”

(Andrejev & Getzenberg, 2021). Yet, the deposits were non-refundable (Andrejev & Getzenberg,

2021).

While the team noted additional benefits of the tickets, even ardent fans like Dave

Dowell – a founder of one of the city’s first supporters’ groups called “Queen’s Firm” – said of

the pricing, “This is not something we can do” (Andrejev & Getzenberg, 2021). Dowell, who

sports a recently tattooed “Crown” on his arm in support of the team, noted he was surveyed by

Tepper with questions about hypothetical season ticket pricing in 2020 (Andrejev & Getzenberg,

2021). Dowell stated, “Charlotte FC needs to honor that timed tradition [of dialogue with loyal

fans] and be open, communicate and tell us what the plan is” (Andrejev & Getzenberg, 2021).

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He continued, “That’s the kind of fan that comes to soccer. That’s the kind of fan that wants to

support Charlotte FC… It’s up to the club. I hope they do the right thing. Talking is easy. It’s

free” (Andrejev & Getzenberg, 2021).

With these realities, while Tepper and his team’s ability to get the bid to Charlotte were

successful, the next phase of success in the team’s launch remains a question.

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Analysis

and

Conclusions

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ANALYSIS

A. Understanding MLS’ Expansion Criteria by Examining Successful Bids

Major League Soccer first announced its plans to expand from 24 to 28 teams in

December 2015 (Major League Soccer, 2015b). At the time, MLS had recently added teams in

Atlanta, Minnesota, Los Angeles and was finalizing its plans with a David Beckham-led Miami

ownership group, taking the league up to the initial 24 teams (Major League Soccer 2015b).

Commissioner Don Garber spoke to the continued growth, “There is no shortage of demand for

MLS Expansion teams, and we believe the opportunity exists to grow beyond our current plans”

(Major League Soccer, 2015b). With reports of increases in franchise’s financial valuations,

television viewership, and in-person attendance, multiple new cities and markets began

positioning themselves for the next round of expansion (Smith, 2015).

San Antonio, Louisville, Charlotte, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Oklahoma City, and

Sacramento all announced major moves towards an MLS expansion before Commissioner

Garber provided his next update on April 14th, 2016 (Borg, 2016; Major League Soccer, 2015c;

Rodriguez, 2016; Stejskal, 2016a; Stejskal, 2016b; Stejskal, 2016c; Stejskal, 2016d). Additionally,

in 2016, ownership groups from Nashville, Detroit, Tampa Bay, and Raleigh all announced plans

to bid for a future MLS expansion team, with Las Vegas and Charleston also expressing interest

(Brisendine, 2016a; Brisendine, 2016b; Major League Soccer; 2016; Stejskal, 2016e; Stejskal,

2016f, Stejskal, 2016g; Stephenson, 2016). On December 15th, Commissioner Garber announced

the next round of MLS expansion – which would see teams 25 and 26 announced during the

second or third quarter of 2017, and teams 27 and 28 announced at a later date and time (Couch,

2016). Expansion qualifications included:

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1) Ownership – Structure and financial information; 2) Stadium – details on proposed

site, financing, approvals and support; and 3) Financial Projections, Corporate Support

and Soccer Support – a business plan, projections and commitment letters for naming

rights and a jersey-front sponsor, along with an overview of support from the soccer

community. (Couch, 2016).

The statement continued, “Three key aspects are considered top priority when reviewing

candidates”:

1. A committed local ownership group that has a passion for the sport, a deep belief in

Major League Soccer and the resources to invest in the infrastructure to build the sport

in their respective market.

2. A market that has a history of strong fan support for soccer matches and other

sporting events, is located in a desirable geographic location and is attractive to

corporate sponsors and television partners.

3. A comprehensive stadium plan that ensures the club will have a proper home for their

fans and players while also serving as a destination for the sport in the community.

(Couch, 2016).

The following examines how these requirements were met by the cities awarded with a

franchise.

NASHVILLE

MLS Team 25 – Awarded MLS Expansion Franchise December 20, 2017

1. Ownership Group

The ownership group for the Nashville MLS Expansion was led by Bill Hagerty, who

served as the Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community

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Development, as director of appointments on Donald Trump’s “presidential transition team,” and

now is a United States’ Senator for the state of Tennessee (Associated Press, 2020; Garrison,

2017a). Perhaps the most important member of the committee was John Ingram, son of

billionaire E. Bronson Ingram II and chairman of Ingram Industries – a Nashville-based

company established in 1978 (Forbes, n.d.b; Garrison, 2017b). His mother, Martha, inherited the

business, and the family is valued by Forbes at $3.5 billion in net worth (Forbes, n.d.b).

Additional investors added a link to other major sports in the United States and within the city,

including the presidents of the city’s NFL (Tennessee Titans) and NHL (Nashville Predators)

franchises and the billionaire owners of the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings, the Wilf family

(Garrison, 2017c; Stejskal, 2016g). Adding other corporate backing was the inclusion of chairman

of Nissan North America (Stejskal, 2016g).

2. Market

Nashville offered a top-30 television market and a location that could bridge current MLS

teams in the Southeastern and Midwest United States (Lyons Public Relations, 2017). The

Nashville area was no stranger to professional soccer, albeit at a much lower level in the United

States Soccer pyramid, with professional teams competing in the area since 1989 (Boyer, 2014;

Nashville Metros Soccer Club, n.d.; Nashville Post, 2013).

Perhaps most importantly, the city utilized the Tennessee Titans’ NFL stadium to host

several high-profile United States National Team games in recent years (U.S. Soccer, 2011a;

U.S. Soccer, 2011b). Nashville even hosted CONCACF Gold Cup matches – a biannual

competition between North and Central American and the Caribbean nations – including a

marquee matchup between the United States and Panama on July 8, 2017 during the heart of

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MLS expansion evaluation (CONCACAF, n.d.; News Channel 5 Nashville, 2017). With an MLS

expansion bid hanging in the balance and MLS Commissioner Don Garber in attendance, the

game drew a crowd of over 47,000 fans – the highest ever attended soccer match in Tennessee

history (News Channel 5 Nashville, 2017).

Additionally, the MLS expansion bid group actively worked to show synergy with the

city’s newly awarded professional soccer franchise, Nashville FC, that was set to debut in the

USL in 2018 (United Soccer League, 2016). Hagerty expressed his support for the USL team and

extended an open offer for the separate franchise to join the Nashville MLS Organizing

Committee (Stejskal, 2016g). However, he asserted it was imperative the city directly seek an

MLS team “now” rather than try and work through the US Soccer pyramid (Stejskal, 2016g). On

March 4th, 2017 Ingram purchased a majority stake in the USL franchise’s ownership group,

creating a partnership between the two groups and a “united front” for MLS expansion

(Garrison, 2017b).

3. Stadium

Nashville’s stadium plans, and eventual approval, represented a significant undertaking

and partnership between the city and the MLS Expansion bid group. Reports for a stadium to be

built in the Nashville Fairgrounds site, located just South of downtown, surfaced in January

2017, right before the expansion application deadline (Garrison & Rao, 2017). In October,

Mayor Barry announced an ambitious plan for a stadium at the Fairgrounds site that proposed the

Nashville Metro Board (a unique city-county consolidated board) issue $250 million in revenue

and general obligation bonds to the city of Nashville to pay for construction of a 27,500-seat

soccer stadium and fairgrounds infrastructure improvements, while the Ingram-led ownership

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group would cover the city’s debt (Garrison, 2017d). This was contingent upon the city receiving

an MLS franchise (Garrison, 2017d). The Nashville Metro Council, who already owned the

fairgrounds property, would own the newly built facility (Garrison, 2017d). The ownership group

would enter into a 30-year lease of the property, in which they would pay $9 million annually

toward an anticipated $13 million per year debt from the bonds (Garrison, 2017d). Sales tax

expected to be generated from the stadium would go to the remaining $4 million in debt, and the

investment group also committed to making a $25 million cash payment towards the project

(Garrison, 2017d). Another part of the plan was the prominent Nashville Turner family leasing 10

acres of space in the fairgrounds to build a mixed-use complex that included midrise housing

(including affordable housing) with consumer retail and restaurants on the ground floor,

revamped streets, and a hotel to house fairgrounds and expo center attendees (Cavendish, 2017;

Garrison, 2017d).

With the MLS expected to announce MLS expansion franchises in December, the only

hurdles needed to be cleared were approval of the bond resolution by the Nashville Metro

Council, joint approval for the grounds leasing from the Metro fair board and Metro Sports

Authority, and the approval of three pieces of legislation for the Turner project – including the

necessary $25 million in general obligations bonds, rezoning and demolition of existing

fairgrounds buildings (Garrison, 2017d).

Mayor Barry cited a study conducted by the University of Tennessee that estimated the

construction of the stadium would create 3,572 jobs and $139.2 million in new income, while the

stadium itself would create 1,886 new jobs and an additional $77.7 million in new personal

income (Garrison, 2017d). Barry touted although the city would have to accrue $250 million in

debt, the project was essentially 90% paid for by the ownership group’s repayments and tax

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revenue generated by the stadium (Garrison, 2017d). Ingram stated, “Other cities have failed at

moments like this. … I feel very, very strongly that if we can come to an agreement on the

stadium proposal, then we have a very good chance of being selected in December” (Garrison,

2017d). Skeptical Council members questioned how this would benefit low income and minority

families in neighborhoods near the fairgrounds, and they voiced concern about other large

projects, like a proposed billion-dollar investment in the city’s mass transit system, having to

take a back seat to the stadium (Garrison, 2017d). Councilman Colby Sledge, who represented

the area surrounding the fairgrounds, noted the ownership group had been “very proactive in

engaging residents and answering questions” and hoped that the “mutually beneficial

relationship” would continue (Garrison, 2017d).

Less than two week later, the Metro fairgrounds board voted to recommend the proposal

and the Nashville Metro Sports Authority voted to approve the financial bonds package

(Garrison, 2017e). Metro Sports Authority member Dudley West claimed, “This is the best

proposal, for the city’s perspective, that we’ve seen,” adding that it put the city at “minimal

financial risk” (Garrison, 2017e). With a vote from the Nashville Metro Council expected to

occur on November 7th, nearly 700 residents showed up for a public hearing on October 24th

(Garrison, 2017f). Those opposing the stadium would rather see the Fairgrounds left for the

traditions and uninterrupted operations of auto-racing, flea markets, and the annual Tennessee

State Fair (Garrison, 2017f). A group named “Save Our Fairgrounds,” who previously opposed

the project, offered “conditional support” with the requirement additional improvements be made

(Garrison, 2017f). However, proponents for the stadium far outweighed opponents, with many

wearing blue and gold “Nashville SC” t-shirts and scarves and arguing the “universal language”

of soccer offered a common cause around which the growing diversity and changing

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demographics of the city could unite (Garrison, 2017f). Soccer families, recreational players, and

residents supporting the team expressed their support, with one recalling, “Sometime in 1997, I

made a pretty bold proclamation that hockey wouldn’t work in Nashville … I’m pretty sure I was

wrong about that” (Garrison, 2017f).

On November 7th, the proposal was approved by the Nashville Metro Council by a 31-6

vote, with a few amendments: the ownership group would be liable for cost overages in

infrastructure improvements to the fairgrounds, and the ownership group would also cover any

construction costs in excess to the budgeted amount (Carlisle, 2017a). On November 29,

Nashville was announced as one of the four cities selected as finalists (Borg, 2017); on

December 20th, it was awarded the first of the two available MLS franchises (Major League

Soccer, 2017c).

CINCINNATI

MLS Team 26 – Awarded MLS Expansion Franchise May 29, 2018

1. Ownership Group

FC Cincinnati boasts a smaller but impressive group of core owners. The CEO and

majority owner is Carl Lindner III (Straus, 2017a). Lindner serves as Co-President, Co-CEO, and

Director of American Inc. – which includes American Financial Group – and has a reported net

worth of “at least” $1.1 billion as of November 2019 (Wallmine; 2021). Jeff Berding, a former

executive with the NFL’s Cincinnati Bengals, is also a member of the ownership group and acts

as president and general manager of the franchise (Straus, 2017a). Another owner is Scott

Farmer, CEO of Cintas Corporation (Straus, 2017a). Farmer’s grandparents started Acme

Industrial Laundry, which eventually became Cintas in 1968 (Forbes, n.d.a). Scott took over as

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CEO when his father stepped down from the role in 1993 (Forbes, n.d.a). Scott is worth a

reported $2 billion (Forbes, n.d.a).

2. Market

Although Cincinnati only ranks #36 in Nielsen’s 2017 TV market rankings, their

overwhelming support of professional soccer is what put them ahead in terms of “fan support”

(Lyons Public Relations, 2017). Reports began to emerge in August 2015 that Cincinnati would

be granted an expansion franchise in the United Soccer League – the third division of US

professional soccer at that time (Major League Soccer, 2015a). The team opened their inaugural

season in the spring 2016, coached by former US Men’s National Team star John Harkes and

playing in the University of Cincinnati’s Nippert Stadium (Straus, 2017a). On April 16th, in just

their second home game, FC Cincinnati broke the USL’s all-time single-game attendance record,

drawing 20,497 fans for a match against rival Louisville City FC (Brennan, 2016). The team

would top that attendance record in May and again in September, averaging 17,296 fans per

game in their inaugural season (USL Championship, 2016). FC Cincinnati also drew 31,087 fans

for their first home playoff game that year against the Charleston Battery – besting the previous

USL single-game playoff attendance record by nearly 10,000 (Kimura, 2016; Straus, 2017a).

Additionally, a July 2016 international exhibition with English Premiere League team Crystal

Palace drew 35,061 fans and set the record for highest single game attendance for any soccer

game in Ohio history – no small feat considering an MLS team had been operating in Columbus

since 1996 (Pierce, 2020).

Subsequent seasons saw increased enthusiasm from fans as the United Soccer League

was moved up to Division 2 professional status (Straus, 2017b). FC Cincinnati’s 2017 and 2018

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regular seasons averaged 21,198 and 25,717 fans per game, respectively (Soccer Stadium Digest,

n.d.b). The team also made an impressive run to the semifinals of the U.S. Open Cup in 2017 – a

single-elimination tournament that included teams from all recognized levels of the U.S.

professional soccer pyramid (Ferree, 2017b; TheCup.us, n.d.). After qualifying matches, FC

Cincinnati were pitted against neighboring Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer in the round

of 16 in June of 2017 (Schudel, 2017). Winning that intra-Ohio battle in front of 30,160 home

fans, the team hosted a second MLS-level opponent, Chicago Fire, in the next round later that

month. FC Cincinnati would win that game in front of 32,387 (Schudel, 2017; Ferree, 2017a). FC

Cincinnati would host a third MLS team, New York Red Bulls, in August in the semifinals

(Ferree, 2017b). In an extra-time loss in front of a “sold out” home crowd at Nippert Stadium,

33,250 attended (Ferree, 2017b). This run of impressively attended games occurred in summer

2017, during the heart of MLS expansion evaluation.

3. Stadium

Finalizing a stadium plan was the most difficult aspect of FC Cincinnati’s expansion bid.

The franchise’s impressive 2016 season attendance numbers earned them a visit from

Commissioner Garber in November 2016, when they held a town hall with club supporters. In

the meeting, team president Jeff Berding noted the ownership had begun to look for a 15 to 20-

acre site in the “urban core” of Cincinnati for a new, soccer-specific stadium (Pfahler, 2016;

Zeitlin, 2016). After submitting their application for an expansion franchise in January 2017, the

organization narrowed their list of preferred stadium sites to three in May (Williams & Brennan,

2017). Designs for the stadium, modeled after Munich’s famed Allianz Arena, were revealed in

June and featured a horseshoe-shaped design with a “continuous” translucent roof and advanced

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LED lighting (Pfahler, 2017a). In November, the Cincinnati City Council passed legislation that

would fund infrastructure and parking improvements, and the organization pitched a stadium

plan for a site Northeast of downtown to the MLS in their expansion “finalist” meeting in

December (Knight et al., 2017; Pfahler, 2017b). When Nashville was awarded the first expansion

franchise after those meetings, Detroit, Sacramento and Cincinnati were left as the three

candidates competing for the second of two available expansion franchises.

In January 2018, the organization pivoted to a new location for its potential stadium and

reportedly signed an “option contract” with the Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority for a

stadium site in “West End” neighborhood (Coolidge & Sparling, 2018). Berding noted:

“During the time of developing our MLS bid, we also evaluated potential locations in other

neighborhoods … As you can imagine, the draw of a $200 million privately funded stadium has

attracted a great deal of interest” (Coolidge & Sparling, 2018). The next month, FC Cincinnati

revealed plans to perform a “land swap” with Cincinnati Public Schools in order to acquire Taft

High School’s Stergel Stadium in the West End neighborhood and to build a new public high

school nearby, but Cincinnati Public School’s board of directors declined the offer due to tax

abatement issues which would require FC Cincinnati to pay another $20 million (Coolidge,

2018; Knight & Sparling, 2018a). In March, FC Cincinnati announced it was removing the West

End site from consideration and would focus on the other two options of the three final sites

identified in 2016 (Knight & Sparling, 2018a).

But, by April, the club announced it would return attention to West End, with the Oakley

neighborhood location being too far removed from downtown and a landowner dispute at the

third option (Knight, 2018a). FC Cincinnati amended its offer to the Cincinnati Public School’s

board of directors to include the payment of an additional $25 million in local school property

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taxes and an agreement to build a new $10 million high school stadium – leading to the board’s

unanimous approval of the land swap (Knight, 2018b). On April 16, the City Council voted 5-4

to pass an ordinance for the city to invest just under $40 million in stadium site infrastructure

improvements, but only if an MLS team was acquired, with the remainder of the $212.5 million

in costs for the 21,000-seat stadium falling on the ownership group (Knight & Sparling, 2018b).

Also, as a part of the financing agreement, FC Cincinnati agreed to spend $32 million with

minority-owned businesses, $22 million with female-owned businesses, secure a private

developer to construct a $15 million affordable housing project in the neighborhood, and spend

$100,000 annually on West End community organizations (Quillen, 2018).

Following the decision, Berding called the stadium “a great opportunity to improve

people’s lives in the West End” (Knight & Sparling, 2018b). City Council member Tanya

Dennard was among those in disagreement, citing a long history of broken promises and

disinvestment in West End (Knight & Sparling, 2018b). Other opponents said the community

was not given enough of a voice in the process, saying this was another example of the rich

taking advantage of the poor, even calling it “present-day colonialism” (Knight & Sparling,

2018b). One key stipulation to the City Council’s approval of financing was the requirement of

FC Cincinnati to sign a “community benefits agreement” with the West End residents (Knight &

Sparling, 2018b). The agreement would need to be approved by the West End Community

Council and then approved by City Council – allowing for residents of the neighborhood to

further address concerns and forge a partnership with the organization (Knight & Sparling,

2018b). After a few weeks of negotiations, a final community benefits agreement was approved

by the West End Community Council, totaling nearly $6.2 million in investment from FC

Cincinnati over a 30-year deal (Knight, 2018d). It included: annual $100,000 payments to set up

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a West End Youth Soccer program, annual $100,000 payments for West End community

building initiatives, a $20,000 payment to support entrepreneurship training for neighborhood

residents, a $100,000 payment for an affordable housing study, the formation of a community

advisory council to oversee the agreement and encourage communication between the parties

and the city, the formation of a Community Design Committee to oversee and have input on

stadium design, and the power for the community council to take action against the organization

with a three-quarters vote if it feels it’s being violated, as well as several other one stipulations

(Knight, 2018d). The final community benefits agreement was passed along to the Cincinnati

City Council, where it was approved on May 16, 2018 (Knight, 2018c). Major League Soccer

awarded the FC Cincinnati organization an expansion franchise on May 29 (Major League

Soccer, 2018a).

AUSTIN

MLS Team 27 – Awarded MLS Expansion Franchise January 15, 2019

Backdrop for how Austin Acquired an MLS Franchise

Austin was not one of the twelve groups that submitted an application for an MLS

Expansion franchise in January 2017 (Major League Soccer, 2017a). Yet, the city found

themselves in a unique position to acquire an MLS team in October when news broke that the

owner of the MLS’ Columbus Crew, Anthony Precourt, had plans to move the Crew to Austin,

Texas if a new downtown stadium deal could not be reached by the end of the year (Wahl, 2017).

Precourt, a California-based businessman, had previously rejected bids from a group called 60

Columbus-area business leaders and CEOs to acquire 100% and 50% stakes in the soccer

franchise (Wahl, 2017). Alex Fischer, president and CEO of the Columbus Partnership, noted he

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had met with Precourt the previous month, and in those meetings had learned the current

ownership group “had been in extensive conversations over the last number of months with

leaders in Austin about a possible new stadium and moving the team there” (Wahl, 2017).

Fischer added Precourt Sports Ventures (PSV) was expected to hold a press conference to

announce they were “jointly pursuing that plan in Austin as well as continuing conversations

about a possible new stadium in Columbus” (Wahl, 2017).

In a press conference the next day, PSV announced, “Despite PSV’s significant

investments and improvements on and off the field, Columbus Crew SC is near the bottom of the

League in all business metrics and the Club’s stadium is no longer competitive with other venues

across MLS” (Somerson, 2017). The statement noted an MLS study showing clubs were

successful in downtown stadiums and a lack of fruitful conversations about a new downtown

stadium site in Columbus. In the statement, the ownership group concluded, “This club has

ambition to be a standard bearer in MLS, therefore we have no choice but to expand and explore

all of our options. This includes a possible move to Austin…” (Somerson, 2017). In the release,

Commissioner Garber called the Columbus franchise’s current position “particularly

concern[ing],” echoing the club’s poor business metrics and that the stadium was “no longer

competitive with other venues across MLS” (Somerson, 2017). Garber met with civic leaders

and Columbus Mayor, Andrew Ginther, the next month, but no progress was made to keep the

team in Columbus (Carlisle, 2017b). Ginther left the meeting critical of PSV and MLS noting he

was “disappointed and frustrated” at any expressed committed to keep the franchise in Ohio

(Carlisle, 2017b). Loyal fans continued to fuel what became known as the #SaveTheCrew

movement to keep the team in Columbus, and the city even filed a lawsuit against Precourt in

March 2018, citing a 1996 statute that required six months’ notice and an attempt to sell any

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professional franchise to a local ownership group before relocation could occur (Schladen,

2018).

On October 12, 2018, the owner of the NFL’s Cleveland Browns, Jimmy Haslam,

announced he was in negotiations with MLS to purchase the Crew and keep them in Columbus

(Clark-Madison et al., 2018). MLS released a statement offering full support for Columbus and

Austin FC, the latter having already held a ceremony to release their branding and were

finalizing a stadium deal (Bils, 2018; Clark-Madison et al., 2018; Lyttle & Jankowski, 2018).

MLS announced if a deal with the Haslam-based ownership group kept the Crew in Columbus, it

would still award Precourt an expansion franchise in Austin (Clark-Madison et al., 2018). After

speaking with Garber, Austin’s Mayor, Steve Adler, called the situation “a win-win-win …

Columbus gets a team, we get a team, and MLS ends up in Austin” (Clark-Madison et al., 2018).

On January 1, 2019 a deal with PSV was reached, and the ownership of the Columbus Crew was

transferred to Haslam and the other Columbus investors who quickly announced plans for a

downtown stadium (Guldan & Murphy, 2018). Austin and Precourt were awarded an MLS

franchise on January 15 (Bogert, 2019a).

1. Ownership Group

Precourt was the main, and only notable, investor related to the MLS expansion effort in

Austin. He acquired the Columbus Crew from Clark Hunt in 2013 for $68 million, then a record

fee for an MLS franchise (Ozanian, 2013). He started his own private equity firm, Precourt

Capital Management, in 2008, specialized in investment management services and private equity

investing in the energy sector (Crew SC Communications, 2013). He started Precourt Sports

Ventures in 2012 specifically as a sports-entertainment arm of his business, with a focus on

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soccer (Crew SC Communications, 2013). Precourt was estimated by Forbes to be worth $3.3

billion (& Yellow, n.d.).

Precourt showed a prowess for increasing the franchise’s value in his early years in

charge. He gave the club a 21st century brand re-fresh, complete with new crest and team name,

identity within fifteen months of taking over (Borg, 2014). Additionally, he brought on Gregg

Berhalter as the new coach and sporting director (Boehm, 2013). In 2014, the team set an all-

time attendance record for a single season, and they returned to the playoffs with Berhalter was

named a finalist for MLS Coach of the Year (Crew SC Communications, 2015b; Schwepfinger,

2014). In September 2015, the Crew would host the largest sellout crowd since 2008 with 22,719

fans, and the team would eventually progress to the finals of the MLS playoffs (Stec, 2015;

Straus, 2015). Precourt also negotiated successful corporate sponsorships, selling the naming

rights of the stadium to Madrid-based insurance company Mapfre in 2015 and signing Acura as

the team’s front of jersey sponsor in 2017 – the largest commercial transaction in franchise

history (Crew SC Communications, 2015a; Crew SC Communications, 2017).

Precourt showed his ability to extend the ownership group after he was awarded an MLS

expansion franchise in Austin. He rebranded PSV to Two Oak Ventures, bringing on six

additional Austin-based business partners while retaining the title of CEO (West, 2019). Those

additional investors included former Dell president and COO, Marius Has, local entrepreneur

and founder of several companies, Eduardo Margain, and local energy entrepreneur Bryan

Sheffield – who was reportedly worth $1.3 billion (Forbes, 2017; West, 2019). Some additional

star power was added to the ownership group when actor Matthew McConaughey was added as

an investor (West, 2019).

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2. Market

When Precourt announced his intentions to relocate the Columbus-based franchise to

Austin in 2017, he outlined some of the significant factors that made the growing city a great fit

for an MLS team. Precourt highlighted Austin was “the largest metropolitan area in North

America without a major league sports franchise … Soccer is the world’s game, and with

Austin’s growing presence as an international city, combined with its strong multicultural

foundation, MLS in Austin could be an ideal fit” (Somerson, 2017). Also, city wasn’t completely

foreign to big time sports; the University of Texas’ athletics programs generated nearly $215

million in revenue in 2017 – the best in the nation (Kenyon, 2018).

Austin was the fastest growing metropolitan area in the United States at the time with a

30% population growth rate, nearly five times the national average (Ordoñez, 2020). Tampa Bay

and Raleigh were the only other metropolitan areas to boast a growth rate of over 20% in the

time frame (Ordoñez, 2020). Austin hosts the annual “South by Southwest” festival every March

which features film and music festivals, as well as interactive media/emerging technology

conferences (South by Southwest, n.d.). The 2019 South by Southwest festival brought in an

estimated 280,000 attendees and generated a reported $355.9 million towards the Austin

economy, which included 51,000 hotel room nights that totaled $1.7 million in hotel occupancy

tax revenue (Austin American-Statesman, 2019).

3. Stadium

When PSV reported in October 2017 the Columbus Crew’s current situation was “not

sustainable” and a potential move to Austin had been in discussions, Mayor Adler publicly

expressed his enthusiasm for bringing an MLS team to Austin (Solomon, 2017). Alder told a

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local news station “there is a lot of benefit that being in Austin would give a team…” but

specified public funding for building a soccer stadium was not one of those benefits (Solomon,

2017). In December 2017, city staff members released a memo identifying eight site

recommendations for consideration for a stadium, should the Crew relocate (Neely, 2017). In a

City Council meeting held in March, a property at McKalla Place was identified as the primary

target, and the council unanimously voted for the city manager and staff to conduct an analysis

of the property’s fit for a privately funded 20,000 seat-stadium (Swiatecki, 2018). The resolution

asked for the study to be conducted by June 1st and produce a report that included an economic

and traffic impact analysis, outline of public engagement processes, and an examination of

infrastructure, public safety and servicing costs (Swiatecki, 2018). The city held multiple

community information sessions in May and a city council meeting followed in June (The City

of Austin, n.d.).

After more assessment meetings, on August 12 the Austin City Council voted 7-4 to

allow Precourt Sports Properties to privately finance a $200 million stadium at McKalla Place in

exchange for the privately owned land, a decision that drew fist pumps from Precourt (Lyttle &

Jankowski, 2018). Mayor Adler expressed his pleasure with the outcome, noting, “I believe in

the power of sports to bring us together… A major-league team was a missing piece here. You

cannot measure its impact in dollars and cents. Soccer is all-inclusive and can help unite us”

(Lyttle & Jankowski, 2018). Not everyone was excited, including Council Member Leslie Pool,

who represents the district that includes McKalla Place and led the opposition to the resolution

(Lyttle & Jankowski, 2018). Pool believed the bill extended too much special treatment to

Precourt (Lyttle & Jankowski, 2018). However, some of her “late game bartering” added

significant required investments from Precourt to the deal, including a $3.64 million contribution

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to Austin’s metro system and additional funding for affordable housing, investments in youth

programs, a larger allotment of free ticket commitments to go to underprivileged youth and other

benefits (Lyttle & Jankowski, 2018). Council Member Kathie Tovo said these amendments led

to her support, “What we ended up with isn’t perfect, but it enhances our community” (Lyttle &

Jankowski, 2018).

A deal for PSV’s stadium was finalized with the city on December 19th (Major League

Soccer, 2018b). The development would be funded entirely by PSV, and the city would retain

ownership of the land (Major League Soccer, 2018b). The 24-acre McKalla Park development

would also include an entertainment and multi-purpose venue and park and open space for public

use (Major League Soccer, 2018b). Precourt added, “…. we are honored that through building

this stadium we will be able to create jobs, provide a first-rate soccer and entertainment complex

and bring a unifying platform for all of Austin to rally behind – all at no cost to the taxpayer”

(Major League Soccer, 2018b). In addition to fully funding the $225 million stadium, PSV

agreed to contribute to the city’s capital reserve fund, annual operating budget, and the city’s

metro system (Major League Soccer, 2018b). PSV also agreed to contribute more than $6.7

million toward youth soccer programs and donate $2.43 million and 2,500 volunteer hours to

Austin charitable organizations (Major League Soccer, 2018b).

In the deal Austin received a new development reinvigorating an underutilized area of the

city, enormous contributions to both the city’s operating budget, and the significant contributions

of charitable efforts from the franchise. Less than a month later, MLS announced the initiative

taken had secured Austin an MLS expansion franchise that would begin play in 2021 (Bogert,

2019a).

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MLS Extends Expansion from 28 to 30 Teams

After already awarding three of four planned expansion teams, at a board of governors

meeting on April 18, 2019, Commissioner Garber stated his belief “there are many, many cities

across the country that can support an MLS team,” and noted he had engaged in “very positive

discussions in Las Vegas and Charlotte” (Major League Soccer, 2019a; Peralta & Rodrigue,

2019). Garber announced the league would extend its expansion to 30 teams, and exclusive

bidding rights were provided to St. Louis and Sacramento, the teams furthest along in their

expansion process. (Major League Soccer, 2019a). Both groups were invited to make formal

presentations to the board that month (Major League Soccer, 2019a).

ST. LOUIS

MLS Team 28 – Awarded MLS Expansion Franchise August 20, 2019

1. Ownership Group

St. Louis made attempts to secure an MLS franchise in 2007 when it was considered as a

candidate for the relocation of the Real Salt Lake team (Roche et al., 2007). An ownership group

led by Jeff Cooper, a local lawyer, had secured approval for stadium plans to build a $600

million development, but MLS was not impressed with the overall ownership group’s finances

and suggested they needed to secure additional investors for the franchise (Bell, 2008;

Timmermann, 2011). Years later, the city was one of the teams to submit an application for an

MLS expansion franchise in January 2017, backed by an ownership group led by Jim

Kavanaugh, CEO of World Wide Technology, worth an estimated $2.3 billion (Feldt, 2018;

Lublin, 2021). A plan to build a $200 million soccer stadium in the Union Station area of

downtown St. Louis included $95 million contributions from Kavanaugh and other prominent

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businesspersons, as well as the promise to cover operating and maintenance costs for 30 years

and payment of the $150 million expansion fee (Feldt, 2018). A contribution of $60 million in

city tax revenue was approved by the city’s Board of Alderman, but St. Louis residents voted

down the referendum in April 2017 (Feldt, 2018).

In September 2018, conversations about an MLS expansion team were renewed when it

was reported the State Department of Economic Development had met with MLS representatives

(Feldt, 2018). Speculation formed that the expansion effort was being led by members of the St.

Louis-based Taylor family, owners of Enterprise Holdings and Enterprise Rent-A-Car, whose net

worth was valued at $7.8 billion (Feldt, 2018; Holleman, 2020). An Enterprise spokesperson

would not comment on any of the specifics but noted their support for bringing an MLS

franchise to St. Louis and the belief it would benefit the city, stating any effort would take a

“concerted and collective effort by a number of people and organizations” (Feldt, 2018). In

October, Carolyn Kindle Betz, Enterprise senior vice president and director of the charitable

foundation, announced a female-majority-led cohort of the Taylor family was seeking an MLS

expansion franchise (Barker, 2018). The ownership group of Betz, six other female members of

the Taylor family, and Enterprise Executive Chairman Andy Taylor, was eventually joined by

Kavanaugh to lead the 2017 effort (Major League Soccer, 2019c). The group would eventually

become MLS’s first female majority-owned franchise (Major League Soccer, 2019c).

2. Market

Garber had previously voiced support for an MLS franchise in St. Louis, stating his

interest in a team playing in a downtown stadium there as early as 2015 (Borg, 2015). When

rumors of a renewed expansion effort surfaced in St. Louis in September 2018, MLS Executive

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Vice President Dan Courtemanche issued a statement, “We continue to believe that with the right

ownership group, stadium plan and support from the corporate community, St. Louis could be a

successful Major League Soccer market” (Feldt, 2018). Following its “exclusive formal

discussions” with MLS in 2019, the league reported St. Louis had addressed some concerns

about corporate sponsor backing by “engaging with key corporate leaders” (Borg, 2019).

St. Louis offered a top-25 television market, and as Betz noted in her expansion bid

announcement in October 2018, filled a void in MLS’ Midwest market and offered a city with a

rich soccer tradition (Barker, 2018; Lyons Public Relations, 2017). In its August 2019

announcement awarding St. Louis an expansion franchise, MLS praised the city, with

Commissioner Garber noting, “St. Louis is a city with a rich soccer tradition, and it is a market

we have considered since the league’s inception” (Major League Soccer, 2019c). That rich soccer

tradition dated back to the 1950 World Cup team, which included five American immigrants

from the St. Louis neighborhood of “The Hill,” and would go on to upset power-house England

in what’s referred to as the “Miracle on Grass” (Major League Soccer, 2019c). The city also

touted a 10-time NCAA champion in St. Louis University and its youth programs with more than

50,000 members (Major League Soccer, 2019c). The city was called “a breeding ground for elite

soccer players,” as it had produced a number of exceptional professional and U.S. National Team

players (Major League Soccer, 2019c). The statement noted St. Louis’ fans “deep history of

supporting soccer,” which included a “spirited following” of the city’s USL team, St. Louis FC

(Major League Soccer, 2019c). The city had also recently hosted a 2015 World Cup Qualifier for

the United States Men’s National team that drew 43,000 fans to Busch Stadium, and 2015 and

2019 exhibition matches for the Unites States Women’s National Team that drew over 35,000

fans (Major League Soccer, 2019c). The MLS’ press release noted St. Louis was home multiple

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major league sports teams as well as nine Fortune 500 companies, and more than 20 CEOs of St.

Louis-based businesses had met with Commissioner Garber and the ownership team to support

the expansion effort (Major League Soccer, 2019c).

In August 2020, the franchise revealed its name, “St. Louis City SC,” and the crest was

created in collaboration with over 20 local designers (Rubbelke, 2020). The name was chosen

from more than 6,000 solicited suggestions from St. Louis residents, and Chief Brand Architect

Lee Broughton said the inspiration for the crest came from the designers’ gravitation to the city

flag (Rubbelke, 2020). Betz hinted that the branding would be released in March when the state

approved its final incentive package for the site, but the announcement was postponed until

August due to the national Covid pandemic (KMOX, 2020; Rubbelke, 2020). On March 31,

2021, St. Louis City SC agreed to a deal for its front of jersey sponsorship rights to pet food

company Purina, whose headquarters were located less than a mile from the proposed new

stadium site (Barker & Hochman, 2021). Commissioner Garber applauded the agreement,

adding, “As a passionate dog owner – my 10-year-old Labrador retriever, Boo Radley, is an

important part of my family – I can’t think of a better company to be associated with our new

team in St. Louis” (Barker & Hochman, 2021).

3. Stadium

In her October 2018 press conference, Kindle Betz and Taylor announced the

approximately $250 million stadium plan would be privately financed by the ownership group,

and the proposal was still targeting the Union Station site whose financing was rejected by voters

in 2017 (Barker, 2018; Bogert, 2018). Avoiding an ask of any city-wide resources and only

negotiating with the city on tax incentives would only require the city’s Board of Aldermen

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approval and avoid a city-wide vote that doomed the previous bid (Barker, 2018). Mayor

Krewson noted the proposal was an “excellent business deal” for the city that could create an

additional $1.5 million in annual city revenue (Barker, 2018). Overall, the proposal would get the

help of $30 million in tax breaks from the state, free use of the land at the stadium site, offer a

full tax exemption on all stadium construction materials, and would seek a 50% break on ticket

sales tax while adding only a 3% sales tax on goods sold within the stadium (Barker, 2018;

Bogert, 2018). On November 18, 2018 the city’s Board of Aldermen’s Housing, Urban

Development and Zoning committee voted unanimously to approve the plans (Hunn, 2018).

Designs for the stadium were released in April 2019 (Rosano, 2019). Renderings of the

22,500-seat stadium proposed every seat would be located within 120 feet of the field with a

translucent roof covering those seats while allowing light to reach the field itself (Rosano, 2019).

Open design concepts on the North and East sides of the stadium intended to create “a strong

visual connection to the surrounding Downtown West District and surrounding neighborhood”

(Rosano, 2019). The ownership group met again with MLS executives in July, with Betz stating,

“We’re confident our proposal puts St. Louis in the best position to bring MLS to American’s

first soccer capital” (Major League Soccer, 2019b). The presentation was enough to see the

ownership group awarded an MLS expansion franchise in August (Major League Soccer, 2019c).

The group revealed updated plans to the stadium site in October (Heffernan, 2019). The

new, more expansive, plans for a 30-acre site on the Western edge of downtown would most

likely exceed the original $200 million cost and included space for the team offices and training

facilities, mixed-use retail, restaurants, and gathering spaces built into the development that

would be open to visitors (Heffernan, 2019). The majority of the land for the development was

currently owned by the Missouri Department of Transportation, and reports suggested the

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ownership group had recently been making deals with private landowners on the North side of

the stadium (Heffernan, 2019). Additional requests of the city included special sales tax districts

to cover patrons buying items at the stadium, exemptions for the city’s amusement tax

(comparable with the city’s Blues and Cardinals franchises), and property tax abatements and

construction-related sales tax exemptions that were previously discussed (Heffernan, 2019). In

December, the ownership group applied for $30 million in state tax credits over the next two

years to go toward the purchase of the land (Kim, 2019). While the state originally agreed to

these terms in principle, they later came back in December stating the granting of $30 million in

tax credits was no longer possible due to a $10 million cap allotted for deferred tax revenue

allocations (Davis, 2019). Still, construction began in February 2020 (KMOX, 2020).

SACRAMENTO

MLS Team 29 – Awarded MLS Expansion Franchise October 21, 2019; Expansion later

announced on “indefinite hold” on March 1, 2021

1. Ownership Group

Although they wouldn’t be awarded an MLS expansion team until 2019, local

entrepreneurs in the Sacramento community began making a push toward MLS in 2012, when

the city was awarded a USL expansion franchise (Lillis, 2012). During a press conference

announcing the expansion team to play in the third division of professional soccer, Mayor Kevin

Johnson stated, “Our job is to prove to the rest of the world (that Sacramento can support an

MLS team) and compete with those cities that are also trying to lure a Major League Soccer

franchise” (Lillis, 2012). Later announced as the Sacramento Republic FC, the team was led by

Warren Smith, the Co-Founder of Sacrament’s Triple-A baseball team, and Joe Wagoner, who

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had been an executive for the city’s United Football League start up team and ECHL minor

league hockey team (Joe Wagoner, n.d.; Lillis, 2012; Rivera, 2013).

The local owners were given a boost when Kevin Nagle, a local millionaire and minority

owner of the Sacramento Kings NBA team, bought an ownership stake in the team to make him

managing partner (Greater Sacramento Economic Council, n.d.). Nagle was not only a wealthy

investor who made his fortune founding and selling several successful life science companies

and currently owned a large real estate company and venture capital firms, but he was also

instrumental in bringing together leaders of the community to help keep the Sacramento Kings

from relocating to Seattle (Greater Sacramento Economic Council, n.d.). Nagle joined Major

Johnson in raising $10 million dollars in ten days and later rallied the creation of a new

ownership group led by tech entrepreneur Vivek Ranadive to stave off Seattle’s attempts to

acquire Sacramento’s NBA franchise (Associated Press, 2013; Wilser, 2016). In 2015, Republic

FC was making a push to promote their successful USL team to an MLS expansion team, and

Nagle helped secure the backing of both the Sacramento Kings and the ownership group of the

San Francisco 49ers – who both pledged to invest in the ownership of the soccer team if they

were awarded an MLS franchise (Jonas, 2015).

The group grabbed the attention of MLS when it secured initial approval from the city

council for a new $226 million downtown stadium in December 2015; and, when Commissioner

Garber originally announced plans to expand to 28 teams in April 2016, he noted, “I hope, and

fully expect, Sacramento to be one of the 28” (Lillis & Kasler, 2015; Ream, 2016). The group

gained full city council support for the stadium plans in November 2016, and Nagle submitted an

application for an MLS expansion franchise in January 2017 – making Sacramento one of the

favorites of the 12 markets that applied (Lillis, 2016; Major League Soccer, 2017a; Rodriguez,

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2017). A bit of concern arose when it was revealed Nagle had submitted the application under

the organization Sac Soccer & Entertainment Holdings (SSHE), which did not include the

current Sacramento Republic FC team and other owners (Rodriguez, 2017). However, over the

course of the next few months, Mayor Darrell Steinberg helped negotiate a reunion between the

groups, and, in May, SSHE acquired Sacramento Republic FC, with Nagle and San Francisco

49ers principal owner Jed York set to take over the team when they entered the MLS

(Brisendine, 2017). The expansion group took another step to send a message to MLS that they

were “beyond ready for expansion” when they began construction on their downtown soccer-

specific stadium in July 2017 (Lillis, 2017). That announcement was strategically made a week

before the annual commissioners meeting and MLS All-Star game to convince the league they

were well ahead of the other applicants (Lillis, 2017).

All of their efforts secured the Sacramento ownership group a spot as one of the four

finalists to pitch for one of the first two of the four expansion franchises (Borg, 2017). The day

they were set to present their pitch to MLS, they announced the addition of tech mogul Meg

Whitman, CEO of Hewitt Packard, worth $3.1 billion, to the ownership group (Major League

Soccer, 2017b). The league awarded the first expansion spot to Nashville and the second to

Cincinnati (Major League Soccer, 2017c; Major League Soccer, 2018a). With the city of Austin

grabbing a franchise in January 2019, one spot remained unclaimed, and Sacramento gave

themselves a huge boost when billionaire investor Ron Burkle agreed to acquire a controlling

interest in the Sacramento club (Carlisle, 2019a). While Sacramento acquired its finalist status

due to its shovel-ready stadium project, Whitman withdrew from the ownership group when they

did not receive an MLS expansion team in 2018, and they struggled to “construct an ownership

group with sufficient financial heft to compete with other bids” (Carlisle, 2019a). Burkle

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provided a sufficient addition to the group, not only boasting a high net worth but also adding

major league sports experience, having been the lead investor in the Pittsburg Penguins NHL

franchise since 1999 (Carlisle, 2019a). With the announcement of Burkle’s investment, Nagle

noted, “Obviously there’s no guarantees, but this is everything [MLS Officials] asked for last

December” when the team made their finalist pitch in 2017 (Carlisle, 2019a).

The MLS Board of Governors gave the league the green light to pursue “exclusive,

formal discussions” with Sacramento and St. Louis for teams 28 and 29, with both clubs invited

to make presentations that month (Borg, 2019). Sacramento appeared to be in prime position,

although Garber noted they still had “a handful of outstanding issues” to work on, including

finalizing their stadium plan and corporate sponsorship (Borg, 2019). The Sacramento ownership

group secured final city council approval for their revised railyard stadium development site and

a financial incentive package that same month, with Mayor Steinberg concluding, “We have

demonstrated to the league that we want this … We are absolutely the right choice for this

league” (Butler, 2019). The effort was enough for the group to secure an MLS franchise on

October 21, 2019 (Major League Soccer, 2019d). MLS’s announcement praised the ownership

team, calling them “a group of highly-successful visionaries in the worlds of busines, sport and

culture” (Major League Soccer, 2019d). Unfortunately, this is not the end of Sacramento’s story.

On February 26, 2021, Burkle informed MLS he had decided “not to move forward with

the acquisition of an MLS expansion team in Sacramento” due to issues related to the COVID-19

pandemic (Major League Soccer, 2021). An MLS statement said the league continued to believe

Sacramento would be a great market for MLS, and the league would continue to work with

Sacramento Mayor Steinberg on next steps for MLS in Sacramento (Major League Soccer,

2021). In the statement, Garber praised the mayor’s efforts to bring an MLS team to Sacramento,

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but he concluded his remarks by saying, “Interest in owning a club in Major League Soccer has

never been higher. And I remain incredibly optimistic about finalizing expansion plans for our

30th team” (Major League Soccer, 2021). Expansion plans for MLS to Sacramento have been

put on an “indefinite hold,” and the club’s name and crest have been removed from the MLS

website (Carlisle, 2021; Major League Soccer, n.d.). Mayor Steinberg continues to explore

financing options to cushion the rising costs of the railyard development, and club president

Todd Dunivant says he has fielded “serious” inquiries from multiple individuals about investing

in the team and is working through those with a “level of urgency” (Carlisle, 2021). Sources

around the league have reflected sympathy for Sacramento’s situations but also note that “[MLS

has] begun exploring other possibilities” with several alternate markets expressing interest

(Carlisle, 2021).

2. Market

On April 26, 2014 the newly awarded Sacramento Republic FC played their first game of

the USL season in Sacramento Community College’s Hughes Stadium (Paterson, 2014). That

game drew 20,231 fans – nearly double the previous USL game attendance record for any team

of 10,697 fans (Paterson, 2014). That game served as an appropriate representation for the future

support of soccer in Sacramento, as the team would go on break the USL regular attendance

record that same year – their first year of play (Lindelof, 2014). The regular sellout crowds and

high performance on the field prompted ownership and the city to begin a push to obtain an MLS

expansion soccer franchise (Kasler, 2015). The support of the city was never a point of question

with MLS noting, “For many years, soccer fans in Sacramento have passionately supported

Republic FC and that that the club deserves to be competing at the highest level” (Major League

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Soccer, 2019d). MLS also acknowledged Sacramento offered the 20th largest media market in the

country and corporate support, including a commitment from UC Davis for an MLS team jersey

sponsorship in 2017(Major League Soccer, 2019d).

3. Stadium

Coming off the championship-winning and attendance record-shattering 2014 inaugural

season, Sacramento announced a series of milestones planned for 2015, called “Operation

Turnkey,” that were intended to ensure the team was ready to begin building a new, privately

financed stadium at the railyard site in downtown Sacramento (Kasler, 2015). At the

announcement, Mayor Johnson stated, “The moment we get word from MLS, we’ll start

digging” (Kasler, 2015). The key milestones for “Operation Turnkey” included identifying an

architectural team, securing control of the railyard site, conducting feasibility studies and cost

estimates, and producing an initial terms sheet (Kasler, 2015). The ownership group selected

famed architecture firm HNTB, who had recently designed the new state of the art stadium for

the San Francisco 49ers, and on December 1st the city council unanimously voted to approve a

preliminary terms sheet for development plans of the 240-acre railyard site that included the

25,000-seat stadium (Lillis & Kasler, 2015). The city council was overwhelmingly supportive,

noting the railyard site had been mostly vacant in recent years and hailed the planned

development as an amazing opportunity for the city (Lillis & Kasler, 2015). The ownership

group would pay for two thirds of the $180 construction costs, with the rest coming from

financing and equity, and cover overruns, design, maintenance, and operation of the stadium, as

well as reimburse the city for police and traffic control at stadium events (Lillis & Kasler, 2015).

The stadium design would include four unique sides, each with its own unique features to create

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fan “neighborhoods” within the stadium, a feature often seen in traditional English soccer

stadiums (Lillis & Kasler, 2015). The stadium would also feature a non-tiered section with the

steepest grade allowable, designed in the likeness of the world-famous “Yellow Wall” of fan

support in the home stadium of German professional team Borussia Dortmund to help “create the

most intense and intimidating match experience in MLS” (Lillis & Kesler, 2015).

In November 2016, Sacramento city council members approved the final environmental

impact report and development agreement for site (Lillis, 2016). The plans included a 20,000-

seat soccer stadium, up to 10,000 homes, a proposed 1.2 million square foot Kaiser Permanente

medical complex, 3.8 million square feet of office space, museums and shops, 1,100 hotel rooms,

and 34 acres of parks and open space (Lillis, 2016). In July 2017, Sacramento announced it was

beginning construction at the railyard site – a strategic intention to send a message to MLS its

bid was serious and further along than the other twelve cities that had submitted applications for

expansion that year (Lillis, 2017).

Sacramento’s ownership group added the aforementioned Burkle in January 2019 in an

effort to secure the final open expansion team, and on April 2nd, they released updated renderings

of the site to show how much work had been going on behind the scenes to have a team ready for

MLS play (Carlisle, 2019a; Sacramento Republic FC, 2019). The updated renderings featured

additions of a 360-degree concourse, lookout points to the downtown skyline and rivers, a new

seating canopy level on the West side and additional field-level seating (Sacramento Republic

FC, 2019). These additions raised the cost to about $252 million, which would also now include

an entertainment district adjacent to the stadium for year-round use (Sacramento Republic FC,

2019). On April 5th, 2019 Mayor Steinberg and the ownership group agreed to a preliminary term

sheet for the updated site plans that included a 17-acre development by Burkle surrounding the

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stadium site (Vellinga, 2019). Additional terms included the team agreeing to donate at least $23

million annually in cash, time, equipment, tickets and facilities to youth soccer and

underprivileged youth and agreeing to a 35-year non-relocation clause (Vellinga, 2019). In

return, state redistricting laws would allow the ownership group to recapture around $27 million

they were expected to invest in infrastructure improvements at the site, and the city would

provide police, traffic control, fire prevention and trash services for 10 years with a cap of

$300,000 (Vellinga, 2019). Councilman Jeff Harris noted, combined with the overwhelming

popularity of the Sacramento Republic FC team, the development would “bring people, energy

and assets to the opportunity areas of the Railyards and the River District”, adding, “The design

of the new stadium is fantastic, and it will be a great facility for Sacramento, paid for with

private funding” (Vellinga, 2019). On April 10th, the city council unanimously voted to approve

the $33 million incentive package for improvements to the downtown railyard site (Butler,

2019). On October 21, 2019 Major League Soccer awarded Sacramento their highly sought MLS

expansion franchise (Major League Soccer, 2019d).

B. Where Did North Carolina FC and Raleigh Get It Wrong?

An oversimplification of an answer to why North Carolina FC did not receive an

expansion franchise would be they didn’t have an approved stadium plan. However, when

judging North Carolina FC’s 2017 MLS expansion bid against the markets whom were

eventually successful, it seems the Triangle-based franchise fell short of its competitors in every

one of MLS’ stated MLS qualifications.

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From an ownership standpoint, one could note Malik’s efforts to rescue the team from

obscurity in October 2015, make massive strides in community and corporate outreach, and even

put the team in a position to apply for an MLS expansion franchise in 2017. However, when

stacked against the competition, Malik’s sole-ownership of the team fell well short of the

apparent benchmark. First, only one expansion team was awarded to a singular owner, Anthony

Precourt, and he already owned the MLS’ Columbus Crew and was attempting to relocate to

Austin. Precourt is already worth reported billions and still added multiple local corporate

executives with more with additional wealth after he was awarded an MLS franchise in Austin.

Although Malik was the owner of Medfusion, which he eventually sold for $43 million to help

finance the Downtown South project, his finances were simply not in the same league (Eanes,

2019e). Nashville had two lead investors worth a few billion each; Cincinnati heralded local

corporate CEOs worth a few billion; St. Louis’ Taylor family was worth an estimated $7.8

billion and added $2.3 billion more in Kavanaugh to their ownership group; and Sacramento was

only awarded a franchise when they were able to secure a takeover from $2 billion investor

Burkle. Additionally, Nashville, Cincinnati, and Sacramento all had commitments for investment

from other major league sports teams in their respective cities. A theoretical Triangle-based

ownership group that included Epic Games co-founder Tim Sweeney ($5.3 billion), SAS co-

founder Jim Goodnight ($6.54 billion), and Carolina Hurricanes owner Tim Dundon ($1.1

billion) would have represented significant capital, large corporate connections, and synergy

with the region’s other professional sports team (Campbell, 2017; DeCock & Alexander, 2018;

Smith, 2020).

The Triangle market and its support for soccer is probably where Raleigh measured up

closest to MLS’ expectations. It boasted a top-25 television market (Lyons Public Relations,

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2017). It had successfully supported an NHL franchise since the late ‘90s and, similar to Austin,

could boast about its strong growth as a metropolitan area. Similar to St. Louis, the Triangle has

one of the largest youth soccer networks in the nation, and that was illuminated when Malik

created the largest youth-to-professional club with the North Carolina FC Youth (North Carolina

FC, 2017d). However, when compared with cities, like Sacramento and Cincinnati, that were

seeking the promotion of existing division two or three teams, North Carolina FC simply did not

have the attendance support other bids showed. Some of that could be attributed to the

constraints of Wake Med Soccer Park, which even at full capacity could only produce crowds

around 10,000 fans – much smaller than single game attendance numbers posted by competing

bids.

Nashville and St. Louis did not have similar division two or three teams playing when

they were awarded franchises; however, MLS was keen to point out they drew impressive

crowds for US Men’s and Women’s National Team games (Major League Soccer, 2017c; Major

League Soccer, 2019c). Those cities strategically used high-capacity stadiums of other major

league franchises in their city to host those events. Conversely, North Carolina FC’s high-profile

exhibition matches, and sold-out Men’s National Team matches faced the constraints of Wake

Med Soccer Park. Raleigh did host an international soccer exhibition in 2011 at N.C. State’s

Carter-Finley Stadium that drew 16,124 spectators (Hyatt, 2011). Could North Carolina FC have

utilized their momentum to host an exhibition match or US National Team match in Carter-

Finley or another stadium in the area? Looking back at the franchises that were awarded MLS

expansion teams, it may have been a worthwhile investment. One other area in which North

Carolina FC succeeded was bringing on corporate support. The particular sponsorship of

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healthcare partner Aetna was on par with the corporate sponsorships of the successful bids

(North Carolina FC, 2018k).

It’s easy to designate the lack of approved stadium plans as an impasse with MLS. Malik

announced his intentions of seeking an MLS expansion franchise and a new stadium in his New

State of Soccer press conference in 2016 (Pierno, 2016e). In June 2017, Malik acknowledged

several of the markets seeking expansion had “moved themselves down” with faulty stadium

plans and added, “we have been careful to build that base of support that we need before we

become public with our preferred option” (DeCock, 2017a). So, the lack of unity with local

officials and subsequent delay that his initial stadium plans faced seemed out of sync with his

previous assessment of those other bids (North Carolina FC, 2017s; Specht, 2017c). Malik

seemed unprepared for the expedience with which the winning cities would move about their

respective stadium processes. Nashville secured full Metro Council approval for their stadium

development, backed by $275 million in city bonds, within 11 months of first proposing stadium

plans at the Nashville fairgrounds site (Carlisle, 2017a; Garrison, 2017d; Garrison & Rao, 2017).

Cincinnati successfully completed a land swap with Cincinnati Public Schools, negotiated a city-

mandated “Community Benefits Agreement” with a neighborhood residential board, and

received final city council approval within a year-and-a-half of submitting its expansion

application (Knight, 2018b; Knight, 2018c; Knight & Sparling, 2018b;). Precourt was able to

finalize a stadium site deal with Austin just over a year after announcing his intention to relocate

the Columbus Crew (Major League Soccer, 2018b; Solomon, 2017). St. Louis received an MLS

expansion team less than a year after Kindle Betz announced an expansion effort, and then her

ownership group released updated plans for the Union Station development that received

approval in a matter of months (Barker, 2018; Heffernan, 2019; KMOX, 2020; Major League

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Soccer, 2019c). And Sacramento’s pursuit of an MLS franchise and an initial terms sheet for a

new downtown stadium received unanimous city council approval two years before it submitted

an application for an MLS franchise (Kasler, 2015; Lillis & Kasler, 2015).

Malik submitted an eight-page proposal for his downtown Raleigh site to the governor,

State Senate Pro Tem, and State House Speaker only a day before his announcement of the site

(Specht, 2017c). He later noted he had seriously considered other sites that would have been

easier to privately finance but that he received a “groundswell” of support from downtown

Raleigh leaders (DeCock, 2017b). He acknowledged it was the harder path, but he ultimately

chose to take on that challenge because “so many people believe it’s the right thing for Raleigh

(DeCock, 2017b). Which individuals constituted the “base of support” and “groundswell” of

downtown Raleigh leaders in favor of the site on state government owned land is unknown.

Notably absent, though, were members of Raleigh’s City Council and Mayor who had not

received a proposal from the club (Specht, 2017c).

Mayoral support showed to be an important benefit of prospective ownership groups.

Mayor Barry spearheaded legislative action in Nashville, while Austin and Sacramento mayors

played pivotal support roles in both city’s acquisition. If anything, Malik and Kane’s pursuit of

their second site, in Southeast downtown Raleigh, more closely mirrors the timing, community

relations efforts, and legislative approval process of these successful MLS expansion efforts.

Was this site one of Malik’s original options? It’s impossible to know; however, it was the

preferred location noted in a study conducted by Raleigh city officials (Specht, 2017d). Perhaps

Malik would have been wise to follow the same process as FC Cincinnati ownership in keeping

multiple site options open during negotiations. Ownership from Cincinnati saw a land swap

proposal for their preferred location turned down by the Cincinnati Public School board and

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quickly pivoted to two other sites (Knight & Sparling, 2018a). When negotiations failed at those

alternate locations, they came back to the original location and offered a more compelling

package that would eventually secure the bid (Knight, 2018a; Knight, 2018b).

C. What Did Charlotte Do Right?

Just as an over simplified explanation can be provided for North Carolina FC’s failed

MLS expansion attempt, it could be said that Charlotte seized on the opportunity presented by

the arrival of David Tepper to secure an MLS franchise. First, it’s important to highlight

Charlotte’s 2017 bid for MLS expansion was unsuccessful. A small ownership group of a current

division three soccer team, with attendance levels barely scratching 1,000, received county

approval for the redevelopment of the Memorial Stadium site just South of downtown Charlotte

(Charlotte Independence, 2021; Harrison, 2017). However, local officials asked team owners to

pull their bid in favor of a competing expansion group (Harrison, 2017). Charlotte’s city council

did not agree to match Mecklenburg County’s investment in the stadium project, and at the

request of the county and expansion leader Marcus Smith, never would. Charlotte was left out all

expansion talks in MLS circles at the time. Enter Tepper, who acquired the Panthers and

immediately mentioned the possibility of bringing an MLS franchise to Charlotte (Newton,

2018). Coupled with MLS’ addition of two more expansion slots, the door was open for

Charlotte.

From an ownership standpoint, Tepper offered money and connections to major league

sports. His net worth of $13 billion dollars had already made him the richest owner of an NFL

team (Breech, 2020). He was thus also a sports leader in Charlotte, a position he would utilize

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during stadium negotiations. And, while Tepper didn’t need any additional financial backing to

form a desirable ownership group, he added additional international soccer influence to his

organization when he hired Tom Glick as the new Panthers’ president (Peralta, 2018).

As a market, Charlotte could already claim itself as a sports town with ardent support of

the NFL’s Panthers and the NBA’s Hornets. Additionally, Charlotte offered the league another

top-25 television market and could claim a professional soccer presence dating back to the early

90s (Hines, 2020; Lyons Public Relations, 2017). Charlotte could offer a natural rival with MLS’

newest success in Atlanta United and had previously shown great support at international soccer

matches held at Bank of America Stadium (Coleman, 2019a; Coleman, 2019b; Fowler, 2019b).

Charlotte had also reached a five-year agreement with Relevant Sports Group to host additional

international soccer matches at the stadium in the future (Peralta & Marks, 2019). From a

corporate support perspective, Charlotte secured a key sponsor in Ally Financial (Dixon, 2019).

In an additional show of corporate support, it was reported over 60 local corporations had agreed

to purchase luxury suites for future MLS games (Dixon, 2019).

Charlotte’s stadium plans did not include building a new soccer-specific stadium, like

many of the other groups receiving MLS expansion groups. Although MLS had stated a

preference for teams to play in soccer-specific venues, Tepper and his team continued to point to

the upside of having MLS teams play in NFL stadiums – citing record-breaking crowds seen in

both Atlanta and Seattle (Carlisle, 2019b; Smoot, 2019a). The plan to have a Charlotte MLS team

share Bank of America stadium with the Panthers avoided the process of development planning

and approval. However, it would require Tepper to ask the city for funding in order to make

Bank of America soccer ready (Morrill et al., 2019). Already in need of renovations, the funding

would also allow for soccer-specific additions (Kuznitz, 2019). Reports noted Tepper asked the

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city for up to $215 million in funding, while also stating he would pay the expected $400 million

additional costs (Morrill et al., 2019). In late 2019, a letter from Mayor Lyles to MLS was

released that outlined Charlotte’s plan to allocate $110 million in hospitality funds to help cover

the renovations to Bank of America stadium (Kuznitz et al., 2019).

Without Tepper’s arrival in Charlotte, they may never have acquired an MLS franchise.

And, it was indeed fortunate Atlanta United had debuted in 2018, playing in a shared NFL

stadium and drawing league record crowds. Those two factors created an easier path for the city

to acquire an MLS franchise and allow them to play in an already existing stadium. This covered

two of the three MLS Expansion Committee’s criteria. But Charlotte could also point to a history

of supporting both professional soccer and other major league sports teams and high attendance

at international soccer matches. The city showed off its support as a market for MLS in 2019 by

securing a major corporate sponsor and the city’s financial backing for revisions to Bank of

America stadium. The opportunity had been seized.

D. The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic

The impact COVID-19 had on MLS expansion efforts can be seen among many

franchises awarded new teams. It delayed the team branding announcements in St. Louis and

Charlotte (Andrejev, 2020b; KMOX, 2020; Rubbelke, 2020). It also triggered one-year delays for

the MLS debuts of Charlotte, St. Louis and Sacramento teams (Andrejev, 2020c). Nashville SC

began its 2020 season at Nissan Stadium in front of 59,069 fans, just to see their season come to

a halt two weeks later (Butler, 2020; Nashville SC, 2020). COVID certainly disrupted team

operations, but the financial implications have shown to be far greater, and the full impact will

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probably not be known for some time. Almost a year-and-a-half after Sacramento was awarded

an MLS franchise, their lead investor, Ron Burkle, informed MLS he had decided “not to move

forward with the acquisition of an MLS expansion team in Sacramento” due to issues related to

the pandemic (Major League Soccer, 2021). That has left the rest of the Sacramento ownership

group scrambling for new investors, and the MLS has begun to pursue other cities to fill the once

Sacramento-owned 30th expansion spot (Carlisle, 2021). With every ownership group having

committed to significant private financing of stadium projects, millions in charitable

contributions to their cities, and between $250 and $400 million in expansion fees, there may be

ripple effects to the composition of ownership groups.

Additionally, the combination of private investment and some city contributions to each

stadium development leaves major uncertainties about whether the timelines for these projects

will remain. The pandemic’s contribution to a suspension of major events including sports has

undoubtedly had significant impacts on taxable revenue for each city. In Nashville, the expected

$4 million in sales tax generated from the new stadium is still being counted on to bridge the gap

of the city’s debt incurred from their $275 million bond package (Garrison, 2017d). Half of

Cincinnati’s reported contribution of $33.9 million to their stadium was to be borrowed from

future hotel tax funds (Smoot & Kuznitz, 2019). And Charlotte has already seen their expected

contribution of $110 million in hospitality reduced to $30 million after the derailment of the

much-anticipated redevelopment of the Eastland Mall site (Getzenberg & Smoot, 2020; Kuznitz

et al., 2019). It’s unknown what impact the pandemic will have on cities’ abilities to grant agreed

upon tax exemptions to other site developments. However, it’s clear both owners and city

officials will have to closely examine their commitments and budgets for each committed MLS

expansion franchise to try and mitigate the negative effects of the virus.

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E. Showing Fan and Market Support Through Leverage of Existing Assets

It’s rare to see the record attendance for non-major-league franchises that propelled FC

Cincinnati and Sacramento Republic FC into the spotlight. Without having that metric to raise

the eyebrows of the MLS Expansion Committee, other cities leveraged other existing major

league sports stadiums to host matches as evidence of fan support. The MLS lauded Nashville’s

attendance of 47,000 fans at a United States Gold Cup match held in the Tennessee Titans

stadium the year it was awarded an expansion franchise (Major League Soccer, 2017c). MLS

noted the turnout of 43,000 fans to a US Men’s National Team game in 2015, as well as crowds

of over 30,000 at recent US Women’s National Team games, all held in the St. Louis Cardinals’

baseball stadium as indicators of strong fan support in the city (Major League Soccer, 2019c).

And Charlotte held multiple international matches at the Carolina Panthers’ Bank of America

NFL stadium, including highly attended Gold Cup, International Champions Cup and U.S.

Women’s National Team matches in the months leading up to being awarded their expansion

franchise (Coleman, 2019a; Coleman, 2019b; Fowler, 2019b).

Reviewing the significant soccer matches, such as those noted by MLS above, played in

the geographic areas of the six markets receiving MLS expansion teams reveals an intriguing

trend. While no major soccer matches were played in Austin, the other five expansion markets

hosted some combination of United States Men’s National Team (USMNT), United States

Women’s National Team (USWNT), and International Champions Cup (ICC) matches prior to

receiving an expansion franchise. A summary of these noteworthy matches held in each of the

other five markets from 2010 until the date of receiving an MLS expansion franchise is

summarized in the following tables:

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Table 1

Charlotte – Significant Soccer Matches Hosted Prior to MLS Expansion

(Coleman, 2019a; Coleman, 2019b; Dockery, 2016; Fowler, 2019b; Spanberg, 2018a).

Table 2

Cincinnati – Significant Soccer Matches Hosted Prior to MLS Expansion

(Dockery, 2016; FC Cincinnati, n.d.; Hancock, 2020; Ohio State University, n.d.; Society for

American Soccer History, n.d.a; Society for American Soccer History, n.d.b; Society for

American Soccer History, n.d.c; Society for American Soccer History, n.d.d; The Stadium Guide,

n.d.).

Date Team Opponent Competition City State Stadium Attendance Capacity

June 9, 2011 Costa Rica El Salvador Gold Cup Charlotte North Carolina Bank of America Stadium 46,000 74,000

June 9, 2011 Mexico Cuba Gold Cup Charlotte North Carolina Bank of America Stadium 46,000 74,000

August 2, 2014 AC Milan Liverpool ICC Charlotte North Carolina Bank of America Stadium 69,000 74,000

July 15, 2015 Mexico Trinidad & Tobago Gold Cup Charlotte North Carolina Bank of America Stadium 56,000 74,000

July 15, 2015 Cuba Guatemala Gold Cup Charlotte North Carolina Bank of America Stadium 56,000 74,000

July 25, 2015 PSG Chelsea ICC Charlotte North Carolina Bank of America Stadium 61,000 74,000

July 30, 2016 Inter Milan Bayern Munich ICC Charlotte North Carolina Bank of America Stadium 53,629 74,000

July 22, 2018 Liverpool Borussia Dortmund ICC Charlotte North Carolina Bank of America Stadium 55,247 74,000

June 23, 2019 Canada Cuba Gold Cup Charlotte North Carolina Bank of America Stadium 59,283 74,000

June 23, 2019 Martinique Mexico Gold Cup Charlotte North Carolina Bank of America Stadium 59,283 74,000

July 20, 2019 Arsenal Fiorentina ICC Charlotte North Carolina Bank of America Stadium 34,902 74,000

October 3, 2019 USWNT South Korea Friendly Charlotte North Carolina Bank of America Stadium 33,000 74,000

December 17, 2019 Awarded MLS Expansion Franchise

Date Team Opponent Competition City State Stadium Attendance Capacity

September 11, 2012 USMNT Jamaica World Cup Qual Columbus Ohio Historic Crew Stadium 23,881 20,145

May 29, 2013 USMNT Belgium Friendly Cleveland Ohio FirstEnergy Stadium 27,720 67,895

September 10, 2013 USMNT Mexico World Cup Qual Columbus Ohio Historic Crew Stadium 24,584 20,145

October 30, 2013 USWNT New Zealand Friendly Columbus Ohio Mapfre Stadium 15,239 20,145

March 29, 2016 USMNT Guatemala World Cup Qual Columbus Ohio Mapfre Stadium 20,624 20,145

July 27, 2016 Real Madrid Paris Saint-Germain ICC Columbus Ohio Ohio Stadium 86,641 102,780

September 15, 2016 USWNT Thailand Friendly Columbus Ohio Mapfre Stadium 10,490 20,145

November 11, 2016 USMNT Mexico World Cup Qual Columbus Ohio Mapfre Stadium 24,650 20,145

July 15, 2017 Nicaragua USMNT Gold Cup Cleveland Ohio First Energy Stadium 27,934 67,895

September 19, 2017 USWNT New Zealand Friendly Cincinnati Ohio Nippert Stadium 30,529 33,250

March 1, 2018 USWNT Germany She Believes Columbus Ohio Mapfre Stadium 14,591 20,145

May 29, 2018 Awarded MLS Expansion Franchise

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Table 3

Nashville – Significant Soccer Matches Hosted Prior to MLS Expansion

(Dockery, 2018a; GoMocs.com, n.d.; Nashville.gov, n.d.; Society for American Soccer History,

n.d.a; Society for American Soccer History, n.d.b; Society for American Soccer History, n.d.c;

Society for American Soccer History, n.d.d).

Table 4

Sacramento – Significant Soccer Matches Hosted Prior to MLS Expansion

(Dockery, 2015; Dockery, 2016; Dockery, 2018a; Dockery 2018b; Harris, 2014; Society for

American Soccer History, n.d.a; Society for American Soccer History, n.d.b; Society for

American Soccer History, n.d.c; Society for American Soccer History, n.d.d; StadiumDB.com,

n.d.; Taylor, 2012; WSP, n.d.).

Date Team Opponent Competition City State Stadium Attendance Capacity

March 29, 2011 USMNT Paraguay Friendly Nashville Tennessee Nissan Stadium 29,059 67,700

February 13, 2013 USWNT Scotland Friendly Nashville Tennessee Nissan Stadium 14,224 67,700

July 3, 2015 USMNT Guatemala Friendly Nashville Tennessee Nissan Stadium 44,835 67,700

August 19, 2015 USWNT Costa Rica Friendly Chattanooga Tennessee Finley Stadium 20,535 20,668

March 6, 2016 USWNT France She Believes Nashville Tennessee Nissan Stadium 25,363 67,700

February 3, 2017 USMNT Jamaica Friendly Chattanooga Tennessee Finley Stadium 17,903 20,668

July 8, 2017 USMNT Panama Gold Cup Nashville Tennessee Nissan Stadium 47,622 67,700

July 29, 2017 Manchester City Tottenham Hotspur ICC Nashville Tennessee Nissan Stadium 56,232 67,700

December 20, 2017 Awarded MLS Expansion Franchise

Date Team Opponent Competition City State Stadium Attendance Capacity

October 27, 2013 USWNT New Zealand Friendly San Francisco California Candle Stick Park 16,315 69,732

May 27, 2014 USMNT Azerbaijan Friendly San Francisco California Candle Stick Park 24,688 69,732

July 26, 2014 Real Madrid Inter Milan ICC Berkeley California Cal Memorial Stadium 62,583 63,000

July 25, 2015 Barcelona Manchester United ICC Santa Clara California Levis Stadium 68,416 77,000

July 30, 2016 Liverpool AC Milan ICC Santa Clara California Levis Stadium 30,758 77,000

July 23, 2017 Real Madrid Manchester United ICC Santa Clara California Levis Stadium 65,109 77,000

July 26, 2017 USMNT Jamaica Gold Cup - Final Santa Clara California Levis Stadium 63,032 77,000

August 4, 2018 AC Milan Barcelona ICC Santa Clara California Levis Stadium 51,391 77,000

May 12, 2019 USWNT South Africa Friendly Santa Clara California Levis Stadium 22,788 77,000

October 21, 2019 Awarded an MLS Franchise

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Table 5

St. Louis – Significant Soccer Matches Hosted Prior to MLS Expansion

(Associated Press, 2021; Society for American Soccer History, n.d.b; Society for American

Soccer History, n.d.d).

From examining these data, a correlation seems clear between international games played and

the markets selected as MLS franchises. How much say MLS has in scheduling these events is

unknown. But they are certainly paying attention to a market’s ability to host and turn out strong

crowds at international events.

F. What’s Next for MLS

Before Sacramento’s issues arose in early 2021, Garber noted MLS was considering

further expansion. He noted the league wanted to look at that decision from a “systematic

perspective,” but added “Las Vegas, San Diego, Detroit, Phoenix are all actively interested in

Major League Soccer” (Williams, 2020). While both MLB and the NBA currently have 30

teams, the NHL has 31 and is getting ready to add the Seattle Kraken next year (KIRO 7 News,

2020). Detroit was one of the original four finalists for the 25th and 26th expansion teams in 2017,

with Phoenix also submitting a bid (Borg, 2017). The Detroit area has hosted a similar number of

international exhibitions as other successful markets, and 2014, 2016 and 2018 International

Date Team Opponent Competition City State Stadium Attendance Capacity

April 4, 2015 USWNT New Zealand Friendly St. Louis Missouri Busch Stadium 35,817 45,538

November 13, 2015 USMNT St. Vincent World Cup Qual St. Louis Missouri Busch Stadium 43,433 45,538

May 16, 2019 USWNT New Zealand Friendly St. Louis Missouri Busch Stadium 35,761 45,538

August 20, 2019 Awarded MLS Expansion Franchise

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Champions Cup games that were held at the University of Michigan football stadium all drew

crowds over 100,000 – a number that has been unmatched by any other current or prospective

market (BBC Sport, 2014; Carlisle, 2016; Sang, 2018). Phoenix has successfully supported the

division 2 professional team, Phoenix Rising FC, since its inception in 2014 (USL PRO, 2014).

Additionally, they hosted a 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinal match at the NFL’s Arizona

Cardinals’ stadium that broke the competition’s attendance record with 64,128 fans (Hills, 2019).

If the MLS decides to expand beyond 30 teams, it appears they have several qualified markets to

choose from. For now, Garber insists MLS remains “laser focused” on adding competitions for

an off season he claims is too long, as well as driving revenue and reinvigorating big-market fan

bases in Houston, Dallas, and Denver (Williams, 2020).

G. What’s Next for Raleigh and North Carolina FC

Could Raleigh be one of those markets to eventually obtain an MLS expansion team? It’s

possible, although Steve Malik may have signaled a lack of intent when he announced the North

Carolina FC men would be stepping down to division three in early 2021 (Andrejev, 2021). Or

perhaps Malik saw through expansion bids in St. Louis, Austin, and Charlotte that having a

successful division two or three professional soccer team was not a precursor to making a play

for MLS. He stated the move to demote the men’s team would allow the organization to focus on

its world-renowned women’s team and on the finalization and development of the Downtown

South project (North Carolina FC, 2021). There’s plenty of work left to be done there. While

Downtown South was granted rezoning approval from Raleigh in December, they are still in

negotiations with the city over crafting an incremental tax grant policy that would allow all the

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available community benefits that were included in their proposal (Johnson, 2020d; Johnson,

2021). That includes continuing to extend the same transparency and open dialogue they

promised residents in 2020. First, they’ll have to deal with a lawsuit recently filed by

GreaseOutlet.com, LLC (Johnson, 2021). The company, who leases a property located in the last

critical parcel of land that was purchased by the Downtown South developers, is claiming they’re

being kicked out despite having a lease agreement through 2031 (Johnson, 2021; North Carolina

FC, 2020). This presents yet another issue for the development that struggled to obtain full

community support and trust all last year.

When Malik announced the Downtown South project in 2019, he continued to reiterate

the development was not contingent upon the city receiving an MLS expansion team, and he may

have proven to be prophetic in that statement (Eanes, 2019b). Women’s soccer saw an

exponential rise in popularity following the US National Team winning the 2015 and 2019

World Cups, and the NWSL – home of the North Carolina Courage – has capitalized on that

momentum. NWSL was the first professional sports league to return to action in the United

States following the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown (Gao, 2020). In doing so, its “Challenge

Cup” return broke the league’s previous television viewership records by nearly 300%,

partnering with CBS Sports and Amazon’s Twitch streaming services (Gao, 2020). The first and

last games of the “Challenge Cup” aired live on CBS and drew 572,000 and 673,000 viewers,

similar viewership that weekly English Premiere League matches drew (Gao, 2020). This year

could see an even greater rise in the women’s game. A new Los Angeles-based club, Angel City

FC, will join NWSL league play this year, backed by a majority-female ownership group that

includes Natalie Portman and Reddit CEO Alexis Ohanian (Gao, 2020). Additionally, the United

States Women are expected to be the favorites in the (if held) Tokyo Olympics this summer, and

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this could provide an additional viewership boost (Gao, 2020). Malik touted the benefits of the

Downtown South development and soccer stadium for the city of Raleigh, explaining it wasn’t

just about luring an MLS team to the Triangle, citing the benefits for lacrosse, rugby, or college

football teams that needed a stadium rental (Eanes, 2019b). However, it may be his NWSL team

that proves to be the largest success of all.

CONCLUSIONS

As noted in the analysis of both bids, neither Raleigh’ MLS shortfall nor Charlotte’s

triumph can be explained by a single factor. There is a myriad of dynamics that intertwine in

determining whether a sports franchise can launch into a new market. Examining North Carolina

FC, Charlotte FC, and the other five ownership groups and markets that were awarded MLS

expansion franchises reveals some parallels that lead to success, and highlights others that lead to

contentious battles with local residents and community members that become enabling linkages

in the process. Based on the review of those case studies, the following best practices can be

identified for any prospective ownership group hoping to land a professional sports franchise in

their market:

Assemble a Multi-Faceted Ownership Group

Don’t go it alone. David Tepper is the exception to the rule here, but that’s what $13

billion in net worth and already owning an NFL team provides an owner. Most successful

ownership groups were constructed of multiple individuals that contribute some combination of

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significant net worth, ties to large corporations rooted in their community, and established

connections within American major league sports. Nashville was the first franchise awarded an

expansion team from the pool of 2017 applicants, and their ownership group included a key

political figure that now represents Tennessee in the U.S. Senate, a billionaire executive of a near

century old Nashville corporation, the chairman of Nissan North America, executives from the

city’s Tennessee Titans and Nashville Predators, and owners of the Minnesota Vikings with their

own substantial worth (Forbes, n.d.b; Garrison, 2017a; Garrison, 2017b; Garrison, 2017c; Stejskal,

2016g). Cincinnati’s group touted the CEOs of local corporations American Financial and Cintas,

who were valued in the billions, as well as a former executive of the Cincinnati Bengals (Forbes,

n.d.a; Straus, 2017a). That group later added former CEO of Hewlett-Packard and tech mogul

Meg Whitman who is valued at $3.1 billion (FC Cincinnati, 2019; Major League Soccer, 2017b).

Most successful ownership groups evolved over time and did not allow individual egos to affect

the health of the entire operation. In a counterexample, there was public competition between

two expansion bids in Charlotte in 2017 – one led by a CEO with connections to NASCAR and

the other by the owner of the Charlotte Independence professional soccer franchise (Harrison,

2016; Peralta 2016). As their public feud played out, Charlotte never approved proposed stadium

plan funding, with the mayor specifically voicing concern about the lack of cohesion between the

two groups (Harrison, 2017; Peralta & Harrison, 2017). Both Nashville and Sacramento faced

similar situations, but successfully negotiated mergers/acquisitions between MLS bid ownership

groups and their current USL teams to show a “united front” to the MLS Expansion Committee

(Brisendine, 2017; Garrison, 2017b). North Carolina FC and Raleigh’s 2017 expansion bid was,

as best is known, a solo effort led by led by Steve Malik.

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Leverage Your Existing Assets to Show Support

It’s extremely rare to have a flood of fan support establishing sell-out crowds and

breaking attendance records for “minor league” teams, like what was seen with USL teams FC

Cincinnati and Sacramento Republic FC. This can then be utilized to build an effort to seek a

major league promotion. Other markets that didn’t have existing professional soccer franchises,

or ones that were not very well attended, used other sports venues in their city to host exhibition

soccer matches that would draw impressive attendance numbers. This strategy was successfully

used by Nashville, St. Louis and Charlotte in acquiring MLS expansion franchises.

Advice for Building a New Stadium

Don’t, if you don’t have to. That’s the approach Charlotte took, selling the success of

joint NFL-MLS stadiums in Atlanta and Seattle. However, the other five cities awarded

franchises all did so by securing approval for prime, downtown, soccer-specific stadiums – per

MLS’ preferred requests. A review of each of those groups’ identification, negotiation and

eventual approval for their respective stadiums reveals insights for navigating this process. Any

ownership group or city looking to build a new stadium would be wise to ensure they had local

city officials’ support as early as possible. Making fast friends with your city’s mayor proved to

be an important factor. Mayors not only offered visible support at press conferences, but they

also played pivotal roles in pushing stadium legislation through the necessary channels in

Nashville, Austin and Sacramento.

Additionally, staying flexible with your stadium plans can provide negotiating power and

serve to mitigate some of the risks of getting locked into one particular site. Many expansion

efforts, including North Carolina FC, that submitted applications to MLS saw complications with

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a single stadium site location that served as their downfall. Malik noted he was considering at

least three stadium sites when he submitted his application for an MLS expansion franchise in

2017 (Pierno, 2017b). Cincinnati had similarly narrowed their search to three sites in May 2017

after submitting their January application (Williams & Brennan, 2017). However, Cincinnati’s

use of simultaneous negotiations at all three sites proved to be pivotal in eventually landing their

preferred location. Their ownership group stayed flexible, walking away from negotiations with

the Cincinnati Public Schools board in February 2018 (Coolidge, 2018; Knight & Sparling,

2018a). Even though they would eventually return to negotiations and finalize plans for a stadium

in that site, they kept other options open. Malik’s plan for a downtown Raleigh stadium on state-

government owned land never got off the ground. Were either of the other two options more

viable? Would the legislature have been more expeditious in addressing the sale of the land if

they knew Malik was continuing negotiations at another site? The particulars remain unknown,

but had Malik remaining flexible and kept multiple options open simultaneously, it may have led

to a different outcome.

Secure Corporate Sponsors Early and Often

One area in which North Carolina FC succeeded in building relationships with the

community was securing sponsorships from local businesses and larger corporations. They

worked with the community to creatively accomplish partnerships, like with Lone Rider to create

a team-specific beer, but also were vigilant in bringing on larger corporate sponsors, such as

Continental Tire, Coastal Federal Credit Union and Aetna Healthcare. Charlotte signed Ally

Financial as their front-of-jersey sponsor before even being awarded a team, and Tepper

reportedly brought Honeywell CEO, Darius Adamczyk, to a meeting with MLS (Dixon, 2019;

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Spanberg, 2019). Similarly, Sacramento signed UC Davis Healthcare as their front-of-jersey

sponsor two years before being awarded a franchise (Major League Soccer, 2019b).

Establishing corporate partnerships, especially local ones, helps support ownership

groups’ stated intentions for their future MLS teams to be a have a great relationship with the

community, and partnering with local companies on smaller initiatives ingratiates them into the

fabric of what their fans know and love. Even more helpful is if your ownership group is

comprised of executives from local corporations and other major league sports teams in your

city. Securing backing, in the form of financial investment or expansion bid support, from other

major league sports in your area presents the perception of a unified sports city. Nashville’s

ownership group had investment from presidents of both the city’s NFL Tennessee Titans and

NHL’s Nashville Predators (Stejskal, 2016g). Sacramento was able to secure financial investment

from ownerships of both the NBA’s Sacramento Kings and NFL’s San Francisco 49ers, and that

partnership, even though the financial support was contingent upon the city receiving an MLS

franchise, certainly helped create a perception of alignment and plenty of positive buzz around

the expansion bid (Jonas, 2015).

Start Community Conversations Early

Ownership groups that embed themselves into their local community not only benefited

from expediting the process of addressing concerns around their stadium plans but also began to

build significant interest and fan support early. Nearly every expansion franchise solicited some

community input on the branding for their expansion franchise, and Charlotte’s branding agency

noted they spent two weeks simply sitting in bars talking about soccer to help them understand

the local fan base and eventually create team branding they could all rally around (Bailey,

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2020d). Malik denied an immediate desire to re-brand the Carolina RailHawks when acquiring

the team in 2015, noting the process of re-branding would include “some outreach and feedback

cycles to make sure we’re branding ourselves as well as we possibly can” (Morris, 2015b). When

rumors emerged, they had bought the trademark rights to the name “Carolina Flight” later in

2015, he brushed away re-branding and attributed it to other sports franchises he was considering

bringing to the area (Pierno, 2016a). It’s unclear how much community input and what kind of

evaluation went into the re-branding campaign when North Carolina FC launched in December

2016.

Even the cities that successfully landed expansion franchises ran into community

concerns when they were attempting to finalize plans for a new stadium. That’s not surprising,

considering that if a city is looking for a downtown site for a large build, it’s likely going to be in

underdeveloped and underserved area. When combining this with the fact that MLS was

admittedly targeting millennial and Latino populations, this pushed developers into areas of town

where there were going to be clashes of support and concern. City officials usually pointed to the

economic boost or revitalization that an underdeveloped area would receive, but community

members were concerned about the impact on the existing neighborhoods and residents in those

areas.

In the Cincinnati ownership group’s negotiations for their stadium development, local

residents spoke out, saying they weren’t given enough of a voice in the process and called the

development “present-day colonialism” (Knight & Sparling, 2018b). That led the Cincinnati city

council to impose a contingency in their approval that required the group to negotiate and receive

approval of a “Community Benefits Agreement” from the West End Community Council

(Knight & Sparling, 2018b). As a result of that final agreement, the MLS expansion group

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committed to nearly $6.2 million in community investments and granting the West End

Community Council the power to take action against the organization if they felt their rights

were being violated at any point (Knight, 2018d). Similarly, the Austin ownership group’s final

city approval included millions of dollars to city’s operating budget, as well as millions of dollars

and thousands of pledged volunteer hours to support neighborhood and community initiatives

(Major League Soccer, 2018b).

The community around a proposed stadium development wielded significant power in the

negotiation process. John Kane and North Carolina FC faced similar concerns of “bullying the

city” and gentrification of neighborhoods surrounding their development plans for Downtown

South in 2020. Raleigh Mayor, Mary-Ann Baldwin, asked the city council to set up a

“Community Engagement Committee” to work with developers on the benefits that could be

included in the development (Sánchez-Guerra, 2020b). Kane Realty continued to state they were

committed to open dialogue and transparency with community members and noted they had

conducted neighborhood meetings and online surveys to gain input from community members

near the development site (Johnson, 2020a; Sánchez-Guerra, 2020b). They later added

community partners and commutations specialists to specifically ensure “significant participation

of minority local businesses throughout the process,” development of low-income housing for

seniors, and efforts to recruit women and minority-owned businesses (Johnson, 2020c). And they

still faced open objection and criticism following a 7-1 city council approval of the project

(Johnson, 2020d).

Knowing the difficulties connected to a large-scale development, not only in securing

city officials’ approval for a stadium site but also the possibility of significant opposition from

residents, organizations would be wise to commit to open dialogue with community members

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early and often in the process. Transparency and inclusion help build trust, and that’s crucial for

the support of a development and a large-scale major-league sports addition to a city. Also,

ownership groups should prepare to significantly contribute monetary investments in the

community as a part of their negotiations. These tactics have proved to help expedite the

approval process and gain support from city officials and the local community, which is a must

for an expansion franchise.

Implications for Other Industries

The best practices identified above are not only applicable to ownership groups and cities

seeking the reward of a major league sports franchise but can also be applied to any corporation

seeking to successfully enter a new market. Owners and executives should plan for large

amounts of investment, even if being offered incentive packages from a new city, and they

should attempt to marry new development with community benefits where possible. This cannot

only help expedite the approval of a development site but also help to gain favor with city

officials and local residents. Creating relationships with city officials can help to gain proponents

from those who may be key decisionmakers in the process. Similarly, corporations should create

open and transparent dialogue with community members as early in the process as possible, as

there will likely be some questions and concerns with any new “group” entering an established

market or location. That dialogue can help to identify potential barriers to successful integration

with a community, and then those barriers can be addressed through the provision of community

benefits or brining on residential and/or community partners to champion success with groups or

individuals. Additionally, seeking input with residents and community members through long-

term transparent communication can help create advocates and supporters that will contribute to

148

the future success of an organization. North Carolina FC also provided a blueprint for

successfully integrating into both the residential and corporate communities in an area by

partnering with smaller, local organizations and companies on mutually beneficial initiatives that

provide community support, as well as incorporating into the larger business community through

joining boards and attending speaking conventions. Every community is different, and the

challenges facing a new corporation will vary, but there are lessons to be learned from the case

studies in this analysis that can be applied to many contexts.

149

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North Carolina FC. (2016j, Mar 15). RAILHAWKS TO HOST 10-TIME MEXICAN CHAMPION

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North Carolina FC. (2016m, May 11). CAROLINA RAILHAWKS TO HOST ENGLISH PREMIER

LEAGUE TEAM WEST HAM UNITED F.C..

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North Carolina FC (@NorthCarolinaFC]. (2016r, Jul 6). #RailHawks to Wear Commemorative

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North Carolina FC. (2016u, July 12). RAILHAWKS ACQUIRE CD CHIVAS GUADALAJARA

ALL-TIME LEADING SCORER OMAR BRAVO.

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North Carolina FC. (2016v, July 12). RAILHAWKS DRAW WITH ENGLISH PREMIER

LEAGUE'S WEST HAM UNITED 2-2.

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North Carolina FC [@NorthCarolinaFC]. (2016w, Jul 12). The @OCSRaleigh @TriSoccerFan &

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North Carolina FC (@NorthCarolinaFC]. (2016x, Aug 12). Check out the Matchday Guide at

tmrw's game to learn about the #FootballForPeaceSouthSudan movement w/ @mfondy!

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North Carolina FC (@NorthCarolinaFC]. (2016y, Sep 1). Join us as we #GoGoldTogether in

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gogold [Image Attached] [Tweet]. Twitter.

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North Carolina FC (@NorthCarolinaFC]. (2016aa, Oct 21). Let's help our neighbors near & far.

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North Carolina FC. (2016ad, Dec 5). NEW NORTH CAROLINA FC MEMBERSHIP PROGRAM.

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North Carolina FC [@NorthCarolinaFC]. (2016af, Dec 6). The countdown is up...tune in to our

Facebook page to watch the announcement live at 12 pm ET.

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North Carolina FC. (2016ag, Dec 6). THE NEW STATE OF SOCCER: WE ARE NOW NORTH

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North Carolina FC [@NorthCarolinaFC]. (2016ah, Dec 6). We are NOW @NorthCarolinaFC!

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North Carolina FC [@NorthCarolinaFC]. (2016ai, Dec 8). We want an @NWSL team in NC, and

@HeatherOReilly agrees. Click here to help us make it happen:

http://northcarolinafc.com/Join #919toNWSL [Image Attached] [Tweet]. Twitter.

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North Carolina FC [@NorthCarolinaFC]. (2016aj, Dec 12). Our #NCFC swag makes great

holiday presents! [down arrow] Check out our new merch [down arrow]

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North Carolina FC [@NorthCarolinaFC]. (2016ak, Dec 12). Want to see our 2017 home kit? 200

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North Carolina FC. (2016al, Dec 16). NCFC'S STATEMENT ON MLS EXPANSION PROCESS

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North Carolina FC. (2017a, Jan 9). NORTH CAROLINA FOOTBALL CLUB ENTERS INTO

AGREEMENT TO ACQUIRE RIGHTS TO NWSL’S 2016 CHAMPIONS WESTERN NEW

YORK FLASH. https://www.northcarolinafc.com/news_article/show/863495

North Carolina FC. (2017b, Jan 31). NORTH CAROLINA FOOTBALL CLUB SUBMITS BID

FOR MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER FRANCHISE.

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North Carolina FC. (2017d, Mar 10). CASL AND TFCA ENTER HISTORIC STRATEGIC

COLLABORATION WITH NORTH CAROLINA FC.

https://www.northcarolinafc.com/news_article/show/842119

North Carolina FC. (2017e, Mar 20). NORTH CAROLINA FOOTBALL CLUB UNVEILS

JERSEY SPONSORSHIPS FOR NCFC AND NC COURAGE.

https://www.northcarolinafc.com/news_article/show/857119

North Carolina FC. (2017f, Mar 22). NORTH CAROLINA FOOTBALL CLUB ANNOUNCES

MEN'S BROADCAST SCHEDULE FOR 2017 SEASON.

https://www.northcarolinafc.com/news_article/show/856543

North Carolina FC. (2017g, Mar 31). NORTH CAROLINA FOOTBALL CLUB ANNOUNCES

NEW MULTI-YEAR STADIUM SPONSORSHIP WITH SAHLEN PACKING CO..

https://www.northcarolinafc.com/news_article/show/857003

North Carolina FC. (2017h, Apr 27). IPREO JOINS NORTH CAROLINA FOOTBALL CLUB’S

STARTING ELEVEN CORPORATE SUPPORT TEAM.

https://www.northcarolinafc.com/news_article/show/842206

North Carolina FC. (2017i, May 25). CIRCLE K EXTENDS PARTNERSHIP WITH NORTH

CAROLINA FOOTBALL CLUB.

https://www.northcarolinafc.com/news_article/show/842223

North Carolina FC. (2017j, May 31). MATCH RECAP: NORTH CAROLINA FC ENDS

CHARLOTTE’S OPEN CUP RUN FOR SECOND-STRAIGHT YEAR.

https://www.northcarolinafc.com/news_article/show/856825

North Carolina FC. (2017k, Jun 14). NORTH CAROLINA FC FALLS IN OPEN CUP

HEARTBREAKER TO HOUSTON.

https://www.northcarolinafc.com/news_article/show/841781

North Carolina FC. (2017l, Jun 23). SWANSEA CITY EXHIBITION EVENTS AND TIMES

ANNOUNCED. https://www.northcarolinafc.com/news_article/show/841775

North Carolina FC. (2017m, Jul 11). MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER EXECUTIVES TO VISIT

TRIANGLE AREA ON WEDNESDAY, JULY 19.

https://www.northcarolinafc.com/news_article/show/841748

North Carolina FC [@NorthCarolinaFC]. (2017n, Jul 11). [ICYMI] The #919toMLS Rally is on

July 19 & we want you to be there! #NCRaiseUp [newspaper]: http://ncfc.io/YLilFq8n

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North Carolina FC [@NorthCarolinaFC]. (2017o, Jul 16). [ICYMI] The Swans have arrived!

Welcome, @SwansOfficial! [Video Attached] [Tweet]. Twitter.

https://twitter.com/NorthCarolinaFC/status/886665758889082880

North Carolina FC [@NorthCarolinaFC]. (2017p, Jul 18). Free scarves. Free beer. Free t-shirts.

No excuses. It's time to rally! [Image Attached] [Tweet]. Twitter.

https://twitter.com/NorthCarolinaFC/status/887386248159125504

North Carolina FC [@NorthCarolinaFC]. (2017q, Jul 18). Snapchat saw it first! [eyes] Follow us

on Snap for full coverage of MLS and Swansea visits this week! [Image Attached]

[Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/NorthCarolinaFC/status/887320809315893249

North Carolina FC [@NorthCarolinaFC]. (2017r, Jul 19). North Carolina FC Announces

Preferred Location for Stadium Complex in Downtown Raleigh Read |

http://ncfc.io/RoiXFMrn #919toMLS #NCRaiseUp [Video Attached] [Tweet]. Twitter.

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North Carolina FC. (2017s, Jul 19). NORTH CAROLINA FOOTBALL CLUB ANNOUNCES

PREFERRED LOCATION FOR ENTERTAINMENT, SPORTS AND ATHLETIC

COMPLEX IN DOWNTOWN RALEIGH; RELEASES INITIAL STADIUM

RENDERINGS. https://www.northcarolinafc.com/news_article/show/841728

North Carolina FC [@NorthCarolinaFC]. (2017t, Jul 19). Raleigh's Blue & Gold!! [raising

hands] Even @WNCN is getting into it! #919toMLS #NCFCfam [Video Attached]

[Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/NorthCarolinaFC/status/887802819889307648

North Carolina FC. (2017u, Jul 22). NORTH CAROLINA FC BATTLES SWANSEA TO 0-0

DRAW, STAYS UNDEFEATED AGAINST PREMIER LEAGUE OPPONENTS.

https://www.northcarolinafc.com/news_article/show/857164

North Carolina FC. (2017v, Sep 1). NCFC YOUTH ACADEMY AND NC COURAGE ACADEMY

SET TO START DEVELOPMENTAL ACADEMY SEASONS.

https://www.northcarolinafc.com/news_article/show/841517

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