ROGERS- Northwest Arkansas’ second professional sports franchise is set to begin play in the very near future. The Kansas City Royals’ minor league affiliate, the Northwest Arkansas Naturals, calls Springdale their home, and soon to come, professional soccer is now on the horizon for the Northwest Arkansas city of Rogers.
The United Soccer League announced Wednesday that an exclusive partnership has been formed with USL Arkansas, a group that will bring a professional men’s and women’s soccer club to Northwest Arkansas, as the region’s first professional teams, a news release from USL states.
The USL is a professional men’s soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, placing it under Major League Soccer (Division I) in the hierarchy.[1] The USL is headquartered in Tampa, Florida (Wikipedia).
The league is owned and operated by United Soccer League and was formed as result of the merger of their USL First (USL-1) and Second Divisions (USL-2), following the 2010 season which saw neither the USL-1 nor the North American Soccer League (NASL) receive Division II sanctioning from the USSF, resulting in the temporary USSF Division 2 Pro League. United Soccer Leagues stated that the merger would strengthen the league’s position within the American professional soccer landscape through stability, commercial growth and the professional development of soccer in four main regions throughout the United States and Canada.[3]
USL Arkansas is led by co-founders Chris Martinovic and Warren Smith.
Martinovic, a longtime business executive in Northwest Arkansas with a lifelong passion for soccer, and Smith, a seasoned professional in the sports industry with a proven track record in building teams and stadium solutions across the country, “bring a unique blend of expertise and enthusiasm to the venture,” the news release states.
Founded in 2010, the United Soccer League has rapidly grown into a globally respected organization that is shaping the future of soccer in America as the first to build complete youth-to-pro pathways for men and women in one ecosystem.
The USL Championship currently features 24 men’s professional teams each playing a 34-game regular season from March to October and receives Division II sanctioning from the U.S. Soccer Federation. USL teams average more than 5,000 fans per game with teams such as Louisville City SC, New Mexico United, Sacramento Republic, and Indy Eleven regularly drawing more than 10,000 fans per game.
Kicking off its inaugural season in August 2024, the USL Super League will bring world-class professional women’s soccer closer to home for more communities across the country and plans to receive Division I sanctioning from U.S. Soccer. The USL Super League will play on an international “fall-to-summer” calendar to align with global women’s soccer.
USL Arkansas is committed to developing a 5,000 seat, multi-purpose stadium nestled in the Pinnacle Hills entertainment district in Rogers, Papadakis said.
“This move forms part of the wider vision of both Martinovic and Smith to embed the world’s game within the community and deliver an exciting, unique match-day entertainment experience for fans.
USL Arkansas’s goal is to begin play in the USL Championship before the 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off in the United States and in the fall that same year for the USL Super League, the USL news release states.
USL Arkansas has begun a listening session campaign where the club hopes to learn from the community what it wants to see from their club. The official team name, colors, and branding will be developed through this process and over the months to come.
For more information on the United Soccer League, readers can click here to be redirected to the league’s official website: United Soccer League (uslsoccer.com)
Stay with RNN Sports as we bring you updates on this exciting addition to Northwest Arkansas and for soccer fans across the state!
Note to Our Readers: Portions of this story originally appeared in the Fort Smith Times Record: Pro soccer is coming to Northwest Arkansas
