GRAND RAPIDS, Mich — Professional soccer is coming to West Michigan and will call the new Amway Stadium being built in Grand Rapids its home.
David Van Andel announced the formation of a men's soccer team to start play in 2027. Currently, the club is going by the temporary name of West Michigan Soccer with an official title still in the works.
WATCH: Thomas Cook talked one-on-one with Dan DeVos about bringing a professional soccer team to Grand Rapids
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.
Much like Minor League Baseball, MLS Next Pro features a number of teams affiliated with a Major League Soccer club. Currently, there are no plans for Grand Rapids to be affiliated with an MLS team.
WATCH: Thomas Cook has a recap of the MLS Next Pro soccer team coming to Grand Rapids
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.
The project is one of several large developments that will receive financial support through an increased tax on hotel room stays in Kent County. The Acrisure Amphitheater being built off of Market Avenue on the Grand River's east bank is another Grand Action 2.0 project that will also receive tax funds.
The price tag for the stadium is about $172 million.
People in the soccer community in West Michigan are excited about the prospect of the game being played on a big stage and hope the community will get a chance to share the pitch.
"I'm happy that there's a soccer stadium coming to West Michigan. I'm curious to see, like, how the entire community is going to benefit," Serigo Cira-Reyes with the GR Champs League told FOX17. "This is like a private venue and all that. And I know there's public dollars being invested in the in the stadium. So I'm I'm really curious to see how the tax dollars coming to the stadium and to Grand Rapids community are going to impact all of Grand Rapids equally, and how the rest of the community is going to get to enjoy that public asset."
Cira-Reyes talked to FOX 17 about the two-generation history of soccer in West Michigan. He hopes that the use of taxpayer money opens the stadium up for the use by the taxpayers like members of the GR Champs League which gives about $10K each year to nonprofits during their annual tournaments.
"I hope people think of it as a public asset, our stadium, I mean, our tournament last year, we had like 250 people playing," Cira-Reyes explained. "We activate a park every every Monday during the summer, from May through October. And so it would be amazing if we could play our tournament at that stadium when it's built."
Watch the full press conference below
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