Aaron Cranford United Soccer Lea
Soccer movers and shakers (from left) Peter Wilt, Vern Stenman and Steven Short celebrate the birth of a new Mad City pro sport.
Peter Wilt believes he holds the unofficial world record for number of professional soccer franchises launched by an individual. The count — which includes Major League Soccer’s Chicago Fire — is now at six, following the recent announcement that Madison will join the burgeoning United Soccer League Division III.
“This is an opportunity for live viewing of a sport that a pretty big segment of Madison is following online or on television,” says Wilt, the newly hired managing director of Madison Pro Soccer, a branch of Big Top Events, which runs the city-owned Breese Stevens Field.
The team is expected to begin play next spring, with the league’s inaugural season running from March to September. Wilt expects up to 14 teams to compete the first year, with the league eventually expanding to as many as 24 teams. Breese Stevens Field likely will host an average of three home games per month — two on Saturdays and one on Wednesday — according to Wilt.
Right now, Madison is the only Midwestern city in the league, with other teams announced in Statesboro, Georgia, Tucson, Arizona and Greenville, South Carolina. Wisconsin also is the second most-populous state in the country (behind Michigan) without an outdoor pro soccer team, Wilt says.
Bringing pro soccer to Madison was a major goal when Big Top took over management of the 92-year-old east side stadium, which is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places. To prep for the new team, the facility will undergo a series of major renovations, including expanding capacity to about 5,000.
“We pride ourselves on seeing what’s next and taking good risks,” Big Top president Vern Stenman says. “This feels like the right next step.”
Wilt expects that hardcore local fans of Europe’s Premier League, who pack Nomad World Pub and The Coopers Tavern to watch games played across the pond, will drive the new team’s fanbase. “Our supporters will be the ones who won’t need seats,” he says. “They’ll have drums and chants and smoke bombs. The catalyst will be the enthusiasm of those fans.”
The roster will be chosen from a large pool of national and international players, and Wilt hopes the new team boasts some former UW-Madison players, too.
Madison Pro Soccer also is inviting fans to submit team name and colors ideas in its “Name Your Club” contest. Online voting likely will begin in late June. “We want the name to reflect the history, tradition, geography and culture of the city,” Wilt says. “We don’t just want some random gimmicky name that sounds cute.”
