Lexington Sporting Club announces stadium plans
LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) — Lexington Sporting club, the city’s professional soccer teams will have a new home by summer of next year.
On Tuesday, various officials and those with the club announcing they will be building a new stadium near I-75 on Doe Run Trail.
A stadium that is set to impact the city’s tourism and economy.
“One thing is, you know, the whole reason for this for me is investing in children, I think the fact that we can get children to play soccer, learn how to play sport, have the discipline and, and work ethic that comes with soccer. That’s really what drove me into this business,” said Bill Shively, a Lexington Sporting Club majority owner.
The stadium and the training fields represent an $82 million investment, one that Governor Andy Beshear says is great for the state’s economy.
“It’ll create jobs, it’ll be a source of game changing growth. It’ll drive major dollars into this community with over $92.4 million estimated to be generated in spending over the next decade,” said the governor.
Beshear also says the addition makes Lexington more attractive, showing how much its economy has grown.
“Last year was the best year for economic impact of tourism in our history. $12.9 billion in Kentucky and for the first time ever Fayette County in Lexington passed the $1 billion mark and it was close, a $1.5 billion economic impact,” said Beshear.
But the stadium won’t solely feature sports and training fields, “this is the type of quality of life addition that will help us attract and grow new jobs as well as create jobs of its own. In addition, this facility will support our hotels and our restaurants, our tourism industry,” also said Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton, who also mentioned she used to coach soccer at one point.
The stadium will feature matches with both men and women in the USL League One and the USL Super League.
Those with the club hope to have the stadium done by August of next year.
Welcome home, Lex 💚🏟️#LexGo pic.twitter.com/4PJrMi3t14
— Lexington Sporting Club (@LexSporting) October 10, 2023
