Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber last week announced that the historic and culturally dynamic city of Nashville has been awarded an MLS expansion club.
Nashville’s MLS team will be owned by the investment group, Nashville Soccer Holdings, LLC, led by John R. Ingram, the chairman of Ingram Industries Inc. Ingram’s partners in the soccer club include Minnesota Vikings owners Mark, Zygi and Leonard Wilf, and the Turner Family, managing partners of Nashville-based MarketStreet Enterprises.
As a result of an innovative private-public partnership between the club’s owners and the community, the team will play in a new, 27,500-seat soccer stadium at The Fairgrounds Nashville in the capital city’s artistic Wedgewood-Houston neighborhood.
“Nashville is a rising city with a passionate soccer fan base, a dedicated ownership group and civic leaders that truly believe in this sport,” said Commissioner Garber. “Nashville continues its ascent as one of America’s most dynamic communities, with its incredible energy and creativity. For us, that makes it a perfect place for MLS expansion. John Ingram and his partners had a plan to bring MLS to Nashville during the last year and they executed it at every level. Thanks to their vision, the soccer fans of Tennessee will soon have their own MLS club and a state-of-the-art soccer stadium that undoubtedly will be a centerpiece of the community.”
John Ingram is chairman of Ingram Industries Inc., and an active leader in the Nashville community as a philanthropist, businessman and sports enthusiast. Ingram has led the bid to bring Nashville to MLS for more than a year and, in May 2017, became the majority owner of Nashville SC, which begins play in the United Soccer League (USL) in 2018.
“This is a landmark day for Nashville and for all of the loyal and ardent soccer advocates in our state and our region,” said Ingram. “During the last year, with the support of our partners, the fans, and civic and community leaders, we were able to make a strong case for why Major League Soccer belonged in the great sports town of Nashville. Thank you MLS owners and Commissioner Garber for your confidence in us. We will have a team that everyone can be proud of, and we will take a leadership role in enhancing the growth of the sport in a region that already has a passionate soccer culture. Nashville is going to be a very worthy addition to MLS.”
Nashville expressed interest in MLS expansion late in 2016, led by the MLS2Nashville Committee, a group of business, civic and sports leaders that believed Nashville should be in the race for a team. That effort was led by eventual U.S. Ambassador to Japan Bill Hagerty and local businessman Will Alexander.
The effort picked up steam when it received the full support of Nashville Mayor Megan Barry to build the soccer-specific stadium on The Fairgrounds Nashville.
The selection of Nashville enhances MLS’ Southeast expansion, which has included substantial successes with new clubs in Atlanta and Orlando. The city of Nashville has already embraced soccer in impressive numbers in recent years. The CONCACAF Gold Cup match between the U.S. and Panama in July drew a crowd of more than 47,000. Later that month, a state-record 56,232 fans attended a game between Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur. Attendance was more than 40,000 for international matches between the U.S. and Guatemala in 2015 and Mexico and New Zealand in 2016.
