2023 NCAA College Cup shows what is possible for proposed Memphis soccer stadium

Since their inception, Louisville City has been the gold standard for what success can be in the lower divisions of American soccer. They have been to the Eastern Conference Finals every single season of their existence. They have won two USL titles and played for another two. They also have their own soccer-specific stadium which has allowed them to host US Open Cup games at home, schedule club friendlies against foreign teams and now, host the NCAA College Cup semi-finals and national championship game. Should Memphis 901 FC prove able to find a new way to get the money to build a stadium (Mayor Jim Strickland has publicly stated that there will not be enough state money for a soccer stadium), these are the types of events that would be coming to Memphis.

In a November 2022 interview with World Soccer Talk, Memphis 901 FC President Craig Unger was emphatic about a soccer stadium opening up possibilities for all sorts of other soccer events to come to Memphis. One thing that he specifically mentioned was the NCAA College Cup, which is college soccer’s version of basketball’s Final Four. The last four editions of the College Cup were all held at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina but prior to that had been held in several of the newer stadiums in MLS: 2017 at Subaru Park (home of the Philadelphia Union), 2016 at Shell Energy Stadium (home of the Houston Dynamo), and 2015 at Children’s Mercy Park (home of Sporting Kansas City). But 2023 at Lynn Family Stadium in Louisville was the first time that the College Cup had been held at the home of a USL Championship team. Next year the College Cup will be held at the new Railyards Stadium, home to another USL Championship team (the Sacramento Republic). Finding a way to get a stadium built would surely lead to Memphis moving into that rotation.

The College Cup games themselves were quite good. Attendance for the semi-finals doubleheader was 3,853. Friday’s first game was between West Virginia and Clemson which saw the Tigers beat the Mountaineers (who had the largest fan support of any of the four teams) by a score of 1-0 on a goal just before halftime. The second game saw Notre Dame take on Oregon State, whose coach and best player were both suspended due to playing an ineligible player in their Elite Eight game (funnily enough Notre Dame and Oregon State are set to face each other in college football’s Sun Bowl in El Paso later this month). Notre Dame, having been to the College Cup semis just two years ago, was able to take a 1-0 lead early in the second half before withstanding a ton of late Oregon State pressure to advance to the championship game on Monday.

Monday’s national title game, in front of a crowd of 4,449, was a rematch of a 3-2 Irish win on September 9th. Clemson came into the game having not conceded a goal the entire Tournament and they duly took the lead on a laser beam from 25 yards out by Brandon Parrish. Notre Dame threw everything they had at the Tigers but were unable to find a breakthrough until Clemson had scored a second goal. Notre Dame handed themselves a lifeline with exactly one minute left in the game as Paddy Burns converted a penalty to halve the deficit. But it was too little, too late and Clemson was able to secure their second national championship in the last three years.

Many of the coaches, players, and media marveled at the quality facility that is Lynn Family Stadium in Louisville. It leads one to believe that a Memphis soccer stadium would garner the same reaction. It would be a boon both for Memphis 901 FC and for Memphis as a whole. These are the types of events that Memphis does not typically get. Despite being a basketball town, Memphis has never been awarded the NBA All-Star Game nor any USA basketball games. Additionally, the NCAA Tournament has not made an appearance at FedEx Forum since 2017. AutoZone Park was for years among the best stadiums in all of minor league baseball yet was passed over by the SEC for their conference baseball tournament back in 2016 and hasn’t played host to the AAA National Championship Game since 2019. A Memphis soccer stadium changes that narrative and Louisville should be the model for what a soccer stadium can bring.

Lynn Family Stadium opened in Louisville in 2020. By virtue of owning their own soccer stadium (rather than playing at AAA baseball venue Slugger Field), the Louisville City organization was able to start an NWSL team which began play in 2021. Being in their own stadium has also allowed Louisville City the ability to play their US Open Cup games at home, which has sadly not been the case for Memphis 901 FC. While Memphis 901 FC has played their last four US Open Cup games on the road (@ Chattanooga FC in 2022 and @ One Knoxville SC, @ Atlanta United, and @ Birmingham Legion in 2023) Louisville City has been able to play four of their last six Open Cup games at home (including drawing over 8,600 people for a visit from Nashville SC of MLS in 2022).

Having their own stadium has also allowed Louisville City to schedule their first ever club friendlies against foreign opposition this year. While 901 FC has only ever played one international club friendly (against Pachuca from Mexico in 2019 which drew over 8,300 people to AutoZone Park) Louisville City played two just this year, drawing 7,100 against FC Kaiserslautern from Germany and 8,100 against Club Atlas from Mexico.

And of course, they have now played host to the highest level event in college soccer. Hosting these events was all made possible by having their own soccer-specific stadium. There’s no reason to think that these events wouldn’t come to Memphis if 901 FC were somehow able to get their stadium built. It would obviously be a huge benefit to 901 FC, but hosting an event such as the NCAA College Cup could also indirectly provide extra attention to the soccer programs over at the University of Memphis.

The UofM women’s team has been the flag-bearer for soccer for the Tigers for years now. They’ve been to six straight NCAA Tournaments and seven of the last eight. They’ve won three straight AAC conference titles and been to the Sweet Sixteen the last two seasons. Twice in the last three years, they’ve hosted LSU in the NCAA Tournament and broken their own attendance record at the Billy Murphy Track & Soccer Stadium. The men’s team doesn’t have the same distinguished history but Coach Richard Mulrooney has been doing a tremendous job of late. He has guided the Tigers to consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time in program history and this year won an NCAA Tournament game for the very first time, beating SIU-Edwardsville in front of over 1,000 people at the Track & Soccer Stadium. One would have to imagine that hosting the NCAA College Cup would cause Memphians to take stock of their hometown university’s soccer programs.

This is all moot however, if Memphis 901 FC is unable to find a new way to secure funding for the stadium. The city won’t be giving them any of the $350 million that came from the state. Given that the writing had been on the wall for some time (even if no public comments specifically about the soccer stadium had been made by any of the parties involved) there is hope that 901 FC was able to start looking at other options before the mayor came right out and said they wouldn’t be getting any money. Should the prove able to find another way to get it done, the sky would be the limit. The amount of high level international soccer coming to the US the next several years is staggering: 2024 Copa America, 2025 Club World Cup, 2026 World Cup, and 2028 Olympic soccer (plus a potential 2027 Women’s World Cup).

With the hype and excitement provided by that much high level soccer being played in the country, combined with the potential for a new soccer stadium here in Memphis and all the events it would bring, Memphis would truly be able to cement itself as a true soccer city.