City of Fresno teams up with USL, hoping to bring professional soccer, new stadium to town

FRESNO, Calif. (FOX26) — Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer said the city and the United Soccer League (USL) “are taking serious steps” toward bringing professional men’s and women’s soccer back to Fresno.

At a press conference Tuesday morning, Dyer described the relationship between the city and soccer league, “We have been dating the USL for a period of time, and today, we’re announcing our engagement.”

The City of Fresno and USL agreed on November 1st to a year-long “exclusivity period” where the two parties will explore constructing a new soccer stadium, how to finance it, and potential ownership groups.

The USL has tried twice before to establish a foothold in Fresno.

Their first attempt, the Fresno Fuego, became the Fresno FC Foxes in 2017 and folded two years after that.

Their second attempt, Central Valley Fuego FC, lasted three years before the club and USL agreed to part ways.

However, USL Chief Operating Officer Justin Papadakis said the $300 million investment into Downtown Fresno has encouraged the league to take another look.

“When we saw the amazing progress that’s been made in creating infrastructure for a real vibrant district in Downtown Fresno, we said we want to be part of that story,” said Papadakis.

One of the necessary steps toward USL’s return to Fresno is building a soccer-only venue.

Papadakis said, “There’s going to be hundreds of thousands, or millions, of dollars invested on our side to put all those pieces together.”

Dyer said the stadium would be in the Downtown Fresno-Chinatown area, and it would meet the USL standard for standing capacity – 7,000 people – while offering 5,000 seats and ability for future expansion.

Dyer estimated the project will require a minimum of six acres. Fresno City Councilmember Miguel Arias said the city has already purchased land for the site, which gives this plan more viability than previous ones.

“It was very difficult to compile several properties owned by LLC’s and family trusts spread across the country,” Arias said. “Now we have a lot more control over these empty parcels, and they’ve been upgraded with a significant amount of infrastructure underneath the ground.”

There are no renderings of the stadium yet, and Fresno Pro Soccer LLC will help put the investment group together to fund the project.

“We already have a list of investors that are ready to come in,” said Adam Smith, a former Fresno FC coach spearheading Fresno Pro Soccer LLC. “The most important part was getting the USL connected with the city and agreeing we want to move forward with the stadium project downtown.”

Dyer said he’s unsure what the exact cost will be, but added it’s “probably around $50 million to build a stadium that’s adequate to support the fan experience we want in Fresno.”

The Mayor hopes the soccer stadium is constructed and Fresno’s new USL expansion team is playing by March 2028.

Dyer believes “this venue will serve as an anchor to a much larger entertainment district.”