(WXMI) — Grand Rapids is set to have a new soccer team kicking off in the MLS Pro Next league in 2027. Thomas Cook talks with minority owner Dan DeVos about the new soccer team coming to Grand Rapids.
"It's very exciting. We've been waiting for this day for a long time so many things had to come together to make this happen," DeVos said. "We think this is the premier league that we could get for Grand Rapids. It's very consistent with the AHL and that level league. It's MLS, I think is really the big thing. We know MLS. Everybody knows MLS. We're involved with MLS, the Van Andel family and we are, so it was a very good connection."
More information about the Grand Rapids team and Amway Stadium
Currently, the club is going by the temporary name of West Michigan Soccer with an official title still in the works. The team is set to play in the MLS Next Pro league, the third-highest professional soccer league in the U.S. Formed in 2022, the league currently has 29 teams across the U.S. and Canada. Another four clubs, including Grand Rapids, are expected to join MLS Next Pro in the coming years.
In November, Grand Action 2.0 announced that Amway pledged $33 million for the design and construction of the 8,500-seat stadium with construction set to begin next year. This amount also granted Amway naming rights to the new facility.
The goal is to have the first soccer match played in the new stadium in 2027 and host at least 17 games a year, which developers say will attract 160,000 visitors to Grand Rapids.
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