Reno Pro Soccer awarded USL Championship franchise, aims for $80M stadium

Wendy Damonte, the co-founder and CEO of Reno Pro Soccer, has spent the last four years of her life working toward Thursday’s announcement Northern Nevada has landed a United Soccer League franchise.

And while there were many roadblocks along the way, Damonte, whose team visited more than a half-dozen potential stadium sites, said she was never deterred from the goal of bringing pro soccer back to Reno.

“I never came close to giving up,” Damonte said. “Never once. There were a lot of ups and downs. Never once did I think, ‘Oh, I can’t do this, or ‘Oh, Reno doesn’t want this.’ Never once did I think that, and I think today is proof.”

USL COO Justin Papadakas was at Thursday’s event to officially award a new franchise in his league to Reno with plans to begin play in 2027. There’s a lot of work to be done before then. Here’s an overview of the top pieces of news that came out of Thursday’s announcement at the old Jones West Ford property on Kietzke Lane, the stadium’s site.

* This would be the first soccer-specific stadium in Nevada but also would have multi-use purpose and host rugby, lacrosse and community events. The expected stadium cost is $80 million with the surrounding entertainment district plus stadium pegged for a $200 million investment. “I have a lot of work to do,” Damonte admitted. “But I think you heard today I don’t give up very easily, and so we’ll go find the money and we’re gonna build something special for Reno.”

* The foremost focus is getting a conditional use permit to begin construction, which would require a city council vote (members of the Reno and Sparks city councils were in attendance). Damonte said construction would ideally begin in early 2026 for the stadium to be completed by March 2027.

* Damonte said the group is focused on building the stadium with private investment. The Jones West Ford property was purchased for $16.5 million with the group also buying an adjacent parcel, which combined is around 30 acres. Damonte said the group will try to attract additional investors once the site is approved for a stadium. Asked if the group could request tax-increment financing (TIF), which was approved for the nearby GSR Arena, Damonte said, “We haven’t even gotten there yet. At this point, the fact that we’re actually here having a press conference, it’s kinda, like, ‘Oh, my, gosh, we’re actually doing this.’ A lot of decisions still have to be made. We certainly aren’t there yet. But we’re gonna do what’s best for our community and have a beautiful soccer stadium in 2027.”

* The stadium is expected to seat 6,000 people and be open air. It will have artificial turf rather than grass given Northern Nevada’s climate and the projected number of events the stadium would hold.

* Papadakas awarded Reno Pro Soccer a USL Championship League team, which is currently the top level of the USL, which in 2027-28 is expected to expand to a three-tier system with USL Division One (top tier), USL Championship (second tier) and USL League One (third tier). That format would include annual promotion and relegation. Reno last had a USL team with Reno 1868 FC, which played at the Reno Aces’ Greater Nevada Field from 2017-20 before folding due to the pandemic.

“1868 was successful,” Damonte said. “COVID hit and (Aces owner) Herb Simon made the decisions that he made. But seeing the community rally behind 1868 when they were watching it in a baseball stadium, we know that people are really gonna support it when it’s in a soccer-specific stadium.”

* Damonte said she has spoken with Wolf Pack athletic director Stephanie Rempe about the Nevada women’s soccer team playing in the stadium and also is hopeful the stadium being built could lead the Wolf Pack to field a men’s team. “Nothing is formalized or worked out, but, of course, we would love to have the Nevada women’s soccer team play here,” Damonte said. “Maybe we could attract a men’s soccer team.”

* Reno Pro Soccer began accepting season-ticket deposits on its website for $27, marking the expected first season of play (2027). The group will hold “listening parties” to get feedback from people in the community about the franchise’s name, colors and crest.

* The ownership group also includes Todd Davis, a local entrepreneur, chief financier and principal owner; Bob Enzenberger, deputy CEO and general counsel; and John Doyle, a former U.S. international defender and president of soccer operations.

“We are bringing pro soccer back to Reno in a big way,” Damonte said. “In a huge way. About four years ago, I was watching TV and I just saw all the news about Las Vegas, and good on Vegas. They’re doing a great job down there. But they were getting tons of professional teams in billion-dollar stadiums, and I thought, ‘Why aren’t we doing anything up here in Reno? What can we do in Reno?’ And I thought, ‘Well, Wendy, what are you doing about it?’ So, I literally just started picking up the phone. I called everybody I know and in four years put together an incredible team and here we are. And what we’re doing is we’re building a community asset. This isn’t something where the gates are gonna feel closed to you. This is our stadium.”