Thursday morning, ownership of a soccer club in Dallas that will play in USL Super League unveiled the name and logo. Dallas Trinity will begin play at Cotton Bowl Stadium this August.
"Women's sports is exploding and also soccer is exploding," says Dallas Trinity Chief Executive Jim Neil. "Soccer in Dallas is exploding because CONCACAF is coming, the World Cup is coming."
Neil says the USL Super League season will be split into two parts to sync with international play. He says the season will begin in August and run through mid-December. Then the season will resume in February, running into May.
He says the team considered playing at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, which is home of the MLS' FC Dallas. He says the Cotton Bowl made more sense logistically and for better visibility.
"We negotiated this deal with Fair Park very early on," he says. "We got an agreement to play a game at the end of the State Fair [of Texas] with an international team."
Neil says the set-up of USL Super League will also help Dallas Trinity FC compete. Players will sign with each club as free agents; the league will not have a draft.
"There are a lot of women who'd say, 'I don't want to go into the draft and get stuck going to the East Coast or West Coast. I would love to play in Dallas, Texas," he says.
USL Super League will start play this August with eight clubs and plans to expand to 16. More information is available at https://www.uslsuperleague.com/ .
Dallas Trinity FC is being introduced as the Dallas Mavericks and Stars play in the second round of the NBA and NHL playoffs and six months after the Texas Rangers won the World Series.
"It's fantastic to be on the front page from a sports standpoint, not only here in Dallas but regionally and nationally as well," says Monica Paul, executive director of the Dallas Sports Commission.
With the American Airlines Center hosting playoff basketball and hockey at the same time, Paul says the Mavericks and Stars are also helping ignite the region's economy.
"Those games generate additional revenue for the arena and city but also get people talking about Dallas," she says. "It furthers our brand and global exposure."
Paul says that global exposure will continue with Arlington hosting World Cup matches in 2026. In 2030, North Texas will host the NCAA Men's Final Four and the Women's Final Four in 2031.
Paul says the area is growing a worldwide reputation as a destination. Despite North Texas having more than 200 different counties, cities and towns, plus sports teams with different ownership and college and university systems, she says the area has come together to pitch itself as one destination.
"Everybody really has a can-do spirit, all the owners, facilities, community leaders, corporate leaders, volunteers," she says.
Paul says city leadership has recognized sports can provide an economic driver for the region.
"There's so much momentum right now. It's really positive to see that upward trajectory," she says. "You can start with the Rangers, excitement building with Mavs/Stars, the excitement we had last week with the WNBA season about to kick off and the preseason game with Caitlin Clark."
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