MLS Next Pro team could soon take the pitch in Fort Myers

Writer: Sylvie Sparks
Published: Updated:
MLS Next Pro

A taxpayer’s former nightmare could become the dream home of southwest Florida’s professional soccer team.

The city of Palms Park once housed the Boston Red Sox for spring training before being used by FSW Athletics.

It costs half a million dollars of taxpayer money each year to maintain.

The city of Fort Myers plans to work with a developer to redevelop the baseball stadium into the home field of an MLS Next Pro team.

MLS Next Pro president Charles Altchek said Fort Myers is the perfect spot to net pro soccer.

“At the youth level, Florida is a hotbed,” Altchek said. “There are innumerable professional players who’ve come out of Florida who have played in MLS, who’ve played abroad, who’ve played for the national team more than I could count.”

MLS Next Pro is a professional soccer league kicked off by Major League Soccer in 2022.

“They’re the top young players from around the world that are not yet playing in MLS that are competing week in and week out,” Altchek said.

Teams in Orlando and Miami currently represent Florida—and the newly launched Jacksonville.

“Soccer is the fastest growing sport in this country, and we have the youngest fans of any sport of any league across the top leagues, and that speaks to what’s happening with soccer overall,” Altchek said.

Altchek said he plans on a Fort Myers club joining the league by the 2025 season, but they’re racing against the clock.

The project’s program manager, Bill Gramer, said project negotiations with the city should start sometime in the next two weeks.

“Time is not on our side,” Gramer said. “It’s going to be fast and furious, so you’ll be seeing a lot of activity here as soon as they give us the keys.”

If they get the green light, the team will start scouting players from all over the world, but it’s not uncommon for local talent to earn a roster spot.

“We’ve had several players who have come through open tryouts and signed contracts with MLS Next Pro teams and then make it to the first team,” Altchek said.

A MLS Next Academy for young men who are not yet professionals will also train at the newly renovated pitch.

Turning the former professional baseball stadium into a professional soccer stadium is part of a proposal to transform midtown into a mixed-use sports and entertainment complex.

The proposal includes making Midtown a comprehensive academic and athletics campus for student-athletes.

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