{"id":161858,"date":"2026-04-09T22:59:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T22:59:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/161858\/"},"modified":"2026-04-09T22:59:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T22:59:09","slug":"major-arena-soccer-league-team-coming-to-allentowns-ppl-center-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/161858\/","title":{"rendered":"Major Arena Soccer League team coming to Allentown’s PPL Center in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

EASTON, Pa. \u2014 The owners of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms announced Thursday they are bringing a Major Arena Soccer League<\/a> team to the PPL Center in Allentown, with play expected to begin in December 2026.<\/p>\n

Jim and Rob Brooks, co-owners of the Phantoms, made the announcement at a press conference at the arena. The new team will compete at the Premier Level \u2014 the MASL\u2019s top tier \u2014 and will play 12 home games as part of a 24-game regular season.<\/p>\n

\u201cRob and I are excited to announce that we have purchased a team and we\u2019ll be moving it here, opening here, in the Lehigh Valley, this coming fall,\u201d Jim Brooks said.<\/p>\n

The addition marks the first new professional sports team to share the PPL Center with the Phantoms, the Lehigh Valley\u2019s American Hockey League affiliate that has called the arena home since it opened in 2014.<\/p>\n

The MASL is the highest level of arena soccer in North America. Formed in 2014 through a merger of the Professional Arena Soccer League and the Major Indoor Soccer League, the league currently fields eight teams spanning coast to coast, with expansion planned for Sacramento in 2027, according to league officials.<\/p>\n

\u201cPPL Center is set to expand its sports offerings by introducing the speed, skill, and high-scoring excitement of indoor soccer,\u201d the MASL said in a statement. \u201cThe new team will enter the major league at the Premier Level, the highest level the MASL has to offer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Starting Thursday, residents can place season ticket deposits<\/a> via a new page jointly released by the MASL and the PPL Center. The site displays a \u201cLehigh Valley Kicks Off In\u2026\u201d timer counting down to December 2026.<\/p>\n

The Brooks brothers said the decision came after a long process of evaluating potential sports \u2014 including basketball, indoor football, indoor lacrosse and indoor soccer \u2014 to find a second tenant that would complement the Phantoms and fit both the arena and the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow can we find a second tenant that can complement the Phantoms and help the Lehigh Valley community?\u201d Jim Brooks said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s not an easy task, because we want to find the right fit for PPL Center, and for the Lehigh Valley.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said a combination of game quality, fan atmosphere, market stability and the league\u2019s commitment to community involvement drove their decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe MASL takes the popular game of soccer and condenses it,\u201d Jim Brooks said. \u201cWhich intensifies it, speeds up the pace. Lots of shots, lots of saves, lots of goals. Full excitement for the whole game.\u201d<\/p>\n

MASL Commissioner Keith Tozer said ownership groups made a unanimous decision this week to approve the PPL Center for the new team. Tozer, who played professionally for the Pennsylvania Stoners<\/a> in the 1979 American Soccer League season \u2014 an outdoor professional league then based in the Lehigh Valley \u2014 said the moment carried personal significance.<\/p>\n

\"pplMajor Arena Soccer League Commissioner Keith Tozer speaks at a press conference announcing an MASL expansion team at the PPL Center in Allentown, Pa., Thursday, April 9, 2026. (Sukhroop Singh \/ Lehigh Daily)<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be back here all these years later, at this moment, it really comes full circle,\u201d Tozer said. \u201cOver the years, we\u2019ve seen soccer grow tremendously right here in Lehigh Valley, across Pennsylvania, throughout the United States, and around the world. And with the World Cup coming to the U.S. this summer, this game is about to reach another level. There\u2019s nothing better than the timing right now for soccer right here in Lehigh Valley.\u201d<\/p>\n

Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk, who joined the announcement alongside state Sen. Nick Miller and Reps. Peter Schweyer, Mike Schlossberg and Ana Tiburcio said the new team adds to the city\u2019s momentum.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving the Phantoms here gives me an opportunity to poke at other mayors around the country when our teams beat their teams,\u201d Tuerk said. \u201cBut now I can add a whole new group of mayors to people that I can poke at \u2014 Mayor Scott in Baltimore, Mayor Gloria in San Diego, I\u2019ve got a team now that we can stack up against whatever you guys have to offer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tuerk also welcomed Tozer with a small card, which he said he gives to every new resident of the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cKeith, I\u2019m going to teach you \u2014 your Spanish was excellent,\u201d Tuerk said. \u201cI\u2019m going to teach you another word that we love here in Allentown, which is bienvenidos.\u201d<\/p>\n

The mayor\u2019s gesture pointed to one of the reasons soccer resonates in Allentown. As of 2024, the city\u2019s Hispanic population represented 56.3 percent of the total, according to Data USA. Tuerk was the city\u2019s first Latino mayor, taking office in 2022.<\/p>\n

Tozer had opened his remarks with \u201cbuenos d\u00edas, amigos and amigas\u201d before switching to English.<\/p>\n

Miller thanked the legislative delegation for helping make the day possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really have a strong delegation that\u2019s fighting for investments just like this,\u201d Miller said. \u201cAll in part thanks to the investment by the state, and Governor Josh Shapiro.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also noted that the Downtown Allentown Alliance\u2019s recently launched branding \u2014 which prominently features hockey \u2014 would need an update.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt includes hockey, but now we got to add soccer into that promo video,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n

Jim Brooks said he and his brother grew up in Pittsburgh watching the Pittsburgh Spirit, a team that played in the Major Indoor Soccer League, and that the announcement reflects values instilled by their parents.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs Rob and I grew up, our parents always reinforced with us, if you want to live in a good community, you gotta do something to make that community better,\u201d Jim Brooks said. \u201cSpring is an awesome time, because it gives us a glimpse of the excitement that\u2019s about to come. And that\u2019s what we\u2019re doing today, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the FIFA World Cup set to begin this June in Canada, Mexico and the United States, Tozer said the timing could not be better for professional soccer in the Lehigh Valley.<\/p>\n

Additional details \u2014 including the team\u2019s name, schedule and leadership \u2014 will be announced in the coming months, the MASL said.<\/p>\n

\n This is the part where we ask.\n <\/p>\n

\n No billionaire owner. No paywall. Just you keeping local news free.\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

$5 keeps us going
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

\n 100% funds local journalism.\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Sukhroop <\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Sukhroop Singh is a journalist based in Easton, PA. He graduated from The Peddie School in Hightstown, NJ. He\u2019s lived in the Lehigh Valley for 15 years, and is proud to call Easton home. When he\u2019s not writing, you can find him reading or playing basketball.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EASTON, Pa. \u2014 The owners of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms announced Thursday they are bringing a Major Arena…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":161859,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120],"class_list":["post-161858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-allentown","tag-allentown","tag-allentown-headlines","tag-allentown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=161858"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161858\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/161859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=161858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=161858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=161858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}