USL Division III league officials to visit Lakeland Wednesday to assess pro team chances

LAKELAND, Fla. – United Soccer League Division III executives will visit Lakeland Wednesday to evaluate the potential for a professional soccer team in the city.

Lakeland is home to the Lakeland Tropics, which competes in the Premier Development League – the top pre-professional league in North America – and will be the 25th different market visited by USL Division III ahead of its inaugural season in 2019.

“We are eager to meet with local leaders, as well as the Lakeland Tropics ownership group, as we continue to work toward the launch of USL Division III next spring,” USL DIII Vice President Steven Short told USLD3.com. “We believe the market could be an ideal fit for the league’s Southeast region given the support we’ve seen the Tropics receive locally over the past year.”

So far, three teams have officially been welcomed into the league including franchises in Tuscon, Arizona, Statesboro, Georgia, and Greenville, S.C. League officials several weeks ago visited Lee County in anticipation of a possible franchise in Fort Myers next year as well. Other cites that have received visits include Columbia, S.C., Montgomery, Alabama, Des Moines, Iowa, Providence, Rhode Island and Portland, Maine.

The Lakeland-Winter Haven market boasts a population of more than 650,000 and is the corporate headquarters of Southeast grocery store chain Publix. The city has multiple sports teams, including the Lakeland Magic (NBA G-League affiliate), Lakeland Flying Tigers (High-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers) and Florida Tarpons (American Arena League), as well as competitive collegiate athletics via Southeastern University – which competes in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.

In addition, soccer is not new to the market, as Florida Tropics SC – which competes in the Major Arena Soccer League –  just completed their second season in the MASL, which will crown its league champion this weekend.

The PDL team also burst onto the scene during the 2017 PDL season, averaging 2,629 fans per game en route to finishing the season with a 9-3-2 overall record in the Southeast Division. For its inaugural game of the 2017 season, the Tropics welcomed 6,112 fans to Bryant Stadium.

Just last week, U.S. Soccer announced the Tropics would be one of 95 teams – including all 20 Major League Soccer teams based in the U.S. – invited to participate in the 2018 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.

“We have made a commitment from Day One with the Tropics soccer brand to explore every opportunity to bring the best the sport can offer to all our fans in Lakeland, Winter Haven and all of Polk County,” team CEO Dr. Panos Iakovidis said. “This is one more example of our vision for the community and our fans to make the Tropics a name and organization everyone can be proud of.”

Shaping the future of the game in the U.S., the United Soccer League  – one of the most prominent Division II leagues in the world which includes the Tampa Bay Rowdies, and the longest standing member of the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) – will launch a third-division men’s professional league in 2019, uniting passionate fans in new markets with the thrill of a proven professional soccer experience.

The USL will target U.S. communities ranging in population from 150,000 to one million, representing more than 75 million people without access to a local professional soccer club. The league will focus on launching new third-division clubs in markets that possess strong local ownership groups, populations with broad-based diversity, a vibrant millennial and strong family base, established corporate support, and stadiums to properly showcase the sport for fans, partners and the public, league officials indicated.