Arizona Pro Soccer Club Announces New Name, Stadium Deal – KJZZ

Arizona’s professional soccer club made some big announcements on Monday. The former Arizona United will now be known as Phoenix Rising FC and has partnered with the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community to build a soccer-specific stadium.

Tom Veit, executive vice president of the United Soccer League, said a stadium is part of the magic formula for a successful club.

“You’ve got to have a venue that is yours, that you can experience. The rise in soccer is when you see soccer-specific stadiums built. Which is a goal for all of our teams,” Veit said. The USL is a Division III league, a step below Major League Soccer.

The stadium will be located on tribal land where Scottsdale and Tempe meet at Loop 202 and McClintock Drive. The spot is northeast of the recently announced site of the proposed Arizona Coyotes hockey arena.

For the 2017 USL season, which begins in March, the team will play at a 5,000-seat “pop-up stadium” at that site. Chief Operating Officer Bobby Dulle described the seating as a U-shaped configuration of fold-down seats, similar to those used for the Waste Management Open golf tournament in Scottsdale. 

Details and a timeline for a permanent stadium and training facility have yet to be finalized, but team officials said a climate-controlled venue is the ultimate goal.  
 
The newly christened Phoenix Rising also announced a partnership with the Arizona Youth Soccer Association to become the title sponsor of two of its programs, the Arizona Premier League and Arizona State League.