Tuesday, February 18, 2025

USL to Wilmington still trying to drum up local support for pro soccer, assessing other markets

USL to Wilmington’s stadium concept from 2022. (Courtesy USL to Wilmington)

WILMINGTON — An effort to bring a professional soccer league to Wilmington has proved to be more a feat than the organizing group USL to Wilmington planned, prompting the group to explore opportunities in other cities. However, they’re still trying to make Wilmington work if possible. 

READ MORE: Pro soccer group seeks Legion Stadium lease for 2024 season

Dewan Bader, former pro soccer player and one of USL to Wilmington’s founders, discussed USL to Wilmington’s progress last week. 

“The biggest thing that we need to figure out is more capital investment, specifically from Wilmington, because our investors, a couple of them have beach homes there, but none of them are actually Wilmingtonians,” Bader said. 

USL to Wilmington launched in 2022 with a plan to have a USL League One playing in the city by 2024, first at a temporary venue while the team built a permanent stadium. The group held several watch parties outside to engage the community with their plans, but faced some resistance from city council when the group requested use of Legion Stadium. By March 2023 Scott Sullivan, the group’s lead investor with Cameron Management at the time, left the group due to personal reasons and USL to Wilmington announced it would not be on track to start playing in 2024. 

Per United Soccer League rules, at least 35% of the franchise of the organization must be owned by one person and that person has to have a minimum net worth of $10 million.

Bader said the group has since found another lead investor, though can’t reveal they’re name and indicated they were not a Wilmington resident. The group has also secured a handful of minority investors in Wilmington putting in anywhere from $200,000 to $400,000. 

“We obviously want local people involved because that’s how you generate more interest, a better sense of the community,” he said.  

Bader said the amount he’d be comfortable getting a team off the ground with —  not calculating the costs to build a permanent stadium — is between $8.5 and $10 million.

Right now, though, it’s still unclear where the group will get the remainder of its financing. Though he’s talked with several interested parties Bader said he has yet to find someone to fully sign-on; the group’s leaders work on USL to Wilmington in their spare time and live outside of Wilmington, making the effort harder.

The issues faced in Wilmington have caused the group to look to other markets, though Bader wouldn’t name them.

“It’s taking so long to try to move things forward in Wilmington,” Bader said. “We figured we had to be somewhat proactive.” 

Not only are potential investors part of the market decision, but also the options for a temporary venue and locations for a permanent stadium — both still undecided in Wilmington. 

Location can also be an influential component on the other parts of the deal coming together, as securing a temporary spot and putting down roots in a long-term space could increase the group’s visibility and draw in other investors. 

Also dependent on the space is what league the team will be able to bring to the area; instead of tailoring the space to the league, the group is now more willing to consider other leagues. 

American pro soccer is divided into different tiers, with potentially multiple leagues within one tier. USL League One, the group’s original intention, is a third-tier team, but the group is also looking at the MSL Next Pro League, also third-tier, and the USL Championship League, a second-tier. Each league has different demands for stadiums; for example, USL League One stadiums typically seat at least 5,000, while stepping up to USL Championship usually calls for more than 8,000 seats.

In March 2023, USL to Wilmington had its sights set on city-owned Legion Stadium, where the Wilmington Hammerheads, a fourth-tier semi-professional soccer team, played until disbandment in 2017. The stadium is now used for various sports by New Hanover County Schools and the Wilmington Sharks baseball team, who USL to Wilmington would have to share the space with. 

USL to Wilmington co-founder Chris Mumford requested the city lease the stadium to the group but also fund a few thousand dollars of locker room improvements and allow the group to build a food hall onsite. City council took issue with the food hall concept, as it would compete with the other concessions onsite, and the city contributing tax dollars to a venture planning to move away from Legion Stadium within a few years. 

Ultimately, the deal never went through, but Bader did recently reach back out to the city to request lease availability, this time accompanied by food trucks instead of a food hall. Parks and Recreation Director Amy Beatty confirmed the group could do that at a per-day rate of $1,500, with the city collecting $1 per ticket sold and a flat $150 fee for every day the food trucks are present. The city also provides 20% of revenue from its offered concessions to the leaser.

However, Legion Stadium’s turf has been replaced and line-markings for various sports have been sewn into the field.

“The pro leagues that we’re looking at will not allow all those extra lines on the field for aesthetic purposes and TV purposes, and stuff like that,” Bader said. “So even if it’s possible, we have to now pursue how much it would cost to paint the field, how many times we would have to do that per year.” 

Bader shared he has also had discussions about using the facilities at UNCW and nCino Sports Park. In both instances,the group was exploring the addition of portable bleacher stands that could be used to bump up seating at either location and be transported to the new stadium when ready, potentially lowering the cost. The co-founder said this is not unlike what the Phoenix Rising, a USL Championship team out of Arizona, did through several relocations of its stadium.

Ultimately, a good temporary space increases the time the group has to find its permanent home.

“The better the temporary venue, the less concern of where the next stadium is,” Bader said. 

USL to Wilmington has engaged a real estate agent to search for available acreage, though the previously stated 40 to 60 acres is no longer a must, Bader said. 

In an interview with Port City Daily in 2022, co-founder Mumford said the group envisioned an outdoor community event center with restaurants, large retail, artist spaces, healthcare systems, and even housing all collating around the stadium. 

The group has walked the scale back somewhat, Bader noting they have less capital behind them now. Though the food hall and beer garden components aren’t going anywhere, the idea is the two would be open and generate revenue for the stadium year-round. Bader shared they are looking for something more around 18 to 20 acres, but it’s dependent on location. 

“If there’s a location in downtown that already has plenty of other stuff around it and you feel maybe you can squeeze 4,000 [people] into that environment, which would be very European if so,” Bader said. “We are the type of group that can pivot.” 

USL to Wilmington’s updated timeline is to have a team in place by 2026 — the year the U.S. hosts the World Cup — and be competing by 2027.


Reach journalist Brenna Flanagan at brenna@localdailymedia.com 

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