In recent years, soccer, and especially women's soccer, has been growing in popularity in the U.S., thanks in part to the success of the U.S. Women's National Team, which recently won a gold medal at the Summer Olympics in Paris.
The National Women's Soccer League said it wants to expand from 12 to 16 teams by 2026. Cleveland is one of the cities bidding for an expansion team. The decision will be finalized by the end of this year.
The Cleveland Soccer Group, which is leading the effort to bring professional women's soccer to the region, recently made a deal with the Cleveland Metroparks to build a new stadium if Cleveland wins the expansion team. The stadium would be built across the street from Progressive Field and seat more than 12,000 fans. The cost projected around $150 million, would be funded in part by ownership investment and state and local funding.
This effort would be historic, in being the first stadium to be dedicated to professional women's sports in the state. But some have raised concerns about whether the region can support another sports team. The region has seen a decline in population and has three other major professional teams seeking local dollars for various upgrades and upkeep.
On Thursday's "Sound of Ideas," we're going to dive in to the excitement behind these efforts as well as the challenges, with a panel of expert guests.
Later, we'll hear another installment of our music podcast, "Shuffle."
Guests:
-Michael Murphy, Co-founder and CEO, Cleveland Soccer Group
-Vanessa Whiting, President of A.E.S. Management & Member, ownership group for women's soccer effort
-Keri Sarver, Owner and Director, International Soccer Club & Assistant Coach, New Zealand National Team
-Amanda Rabinowitz, Host and Producer, "Shuffle" and "All Things Considered"
-Lea Marra, Singer-Songwriter
