Metroparks Approves Purchase of Downtown Site for Cleveland Women's Pro Soccer Stadium

The next few years look like good years for soccer in America.

In 2026, the FIFA World Cup will be making its way to 11 U.S. cities for the second time in the global sport event's history. Come 2028, Los Angeles will be set to host its second Summer Olympics. And the U.S. could host its first FIFA Women's World Cup in 2031.

And it's starting to look promising in Cleveland. As on Thursday, the Metroparks announced that it helped buy the 14 acres of land just south of Progressive Field and I-71 for the sake of building the city's—and the state's—first stadium designated for a professional women's soccer team.

The investment and ownership group behind the effort is currently prepping its NWSL expansion team bid, of which a new stadium is a critical part. Cleveland Soccer Group's Mike Murphy has previously said he envisions a 12,500-seat stadium costing some $150 million. The group is asking the city, county and state to cover $90 million of that. So far, only a $1 million has officially been secured.

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But progress was made on the site as the Metroparks arrived at a purchase agreement for the land with ODOT, with a sale going forward if Cleveland gets selected for a new NWSL team. If that happens, the park system would lease the land back to Cleveland Soccer for the stadium.

CSG head Michael Murphy said he wouldn't want it any other way. Or in practically any other place.

"I would argue that this is the best piece of real estate in downtown Cleveland for a stadium," Murphy told Scene in a call Thursday. He said that securing the site will help CSG "complete the 30-year vision of the Gateway" District.

Murphy's already had his share of success. In 2022, a first run of ads and brand-making led to securing a MLS NEXT Pro Club expansion team, whose debut has been pushed back some years to accommodate the stadium and NWSL effort. And last year, CSP capped off a fundraising stretch with $26 T-shirts and tens of thousands of vows from would-be fans.

Which Murphy said is good enough to dissuade soccer skeptics.

"We had well over 14,500 season tickets pledged for a team that doesn't exist in a stadium that doesn't exist," Murphy recalled. "So I think we've demonstrated pretty well that there's a demand for this market."

But demand won't mean anything if a stadium isn't built.

If all goes to plan, the stadium will sit in between the Slavic Village Downtown Connector trail and just a bit north of a new trail the Metroparks might build to link the site to Bedrock's $2 billion neighborhood on the Cuyahoga.

Such ideas "align with our ongoing efforts to connect communities to and around Downtown Cleveland through our growing trail network," Metroparks CEO Brian Zimmerman said in a press release. "And we’re excited and hopeful that GSG and Cleveland will be successful in this tremendous opportunity.”

He and his team will be working now on both the national bid for NWSL expansion along with deciding exactly how to go about raising the rest of the money needed.

And seeing if they can pull it off in time for the World Cup.

"But now is the time to do this," he said. "Now is really the time to sew seeds, to make sure that we have a foothold and a seat at the table when it comes to professional soccer and the world's largest game."
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