On Thursday evening, the ownership group of the Greenville Triumph, the USL League One club currently playing matches at Legacy Early College, proposed a concept for a new stadium to the Greenville County Council.
If approved, the new facility would be located at BridgeWay Station, and would seat 8,100 at full capacity. As well as being the home stadium for the Triumph, it could also be utilized to host concerts, corporate meetings, recreational activities, and other sporting events.
Since the inaugural season of the Triumph, the team has played its home games at Legacy Early College, just outside of downtown Greenville. The new stadium would be located in Mauldin, just off of Interstate 385.
Joe Erwin, the President of the Greenville Triumph, told the County Council Thursday evening that the stadium would cost roughly 38.6 million dollars, but cited studies claiming it had the potential to bring in as much as 275 million in economic gains over the tens years after construction. During discussions in front of the council, it was repeatedly stated that a large sum of the money from the county to build the stadium would come from hospitality taxes, paid to hotels and other tourist destinations in the city.
Erwin told the County Council that the team's ownership group has "..no interest in raising or creating any new taxes" on county residents.
In Erwin's corner is Mauldin Mayor Terry Merritt, who said the stadium would be "..transformative, not just for Mauldin, but the Upstate as a whole."
During their presentation, Erwin told the County Council that the stadium would be available for other events, and estimated that as many as 150 per year could take place there.
In an interview on The Rob Brown Show Friday afternoon, Erwin said the team has already agreed to allow Greenville County ownership of the stadium, and to pay the county as much as $350,000 a year to lease the facility for training and matches, the highest annual rent paid by any team in USL League One. Erwin said the cost is high, but that the team would save money in the long run as opposed to repeatedly furnishing and improving Legacy Early College's facility on a match by match basis. The audio from that interview can be found at the bottom of this article.
Erwin also said that alongside the community impact, the Triumph itself may benefit down the line. After finishing twice as USL1+ runner-ups and winning the championship once in its first three seasons, the Triumph could theoretically move up in level of competition with a nicer facility, and become one of the highest level professional teams in the state. If the stadium is approved, construction could be completed in time for the Triumph's 2023 season.
Erwin also said the team was proud of the opportunity the stadium would bring for women's soccer as well. In late 2021, the Triumph announced they would have a team in the inaugural year of the USL W League, a professional women's league with teams across the country. The stadium would serve as home facility for that team as well, and Erwin says it would make Greenville a leader in the promotion of women's sports as well as one of its premier destinations in the country.
After the County Council meeting Thursday, county leaders decided to place the idea into a hold, in order to give them time to formulate a deeper round of questioning for the Triumph ownership group. Councilors will present their questions to the group over the next few weeks, and a hearing for a larger presentation and potential vote of approval will be scheduled in coming weeks.
ESPN Upstate will continue to report details of the situation as they develop.