Pensacola is still in play for professional soccer. Mayor D.C. Reeves said Tuesday that the city and the United Soccer League remain in an exclusivity period while they test local support and search for a viable downtown site for an intimate, multi‑purpose stadium. He emphasized the project will not proceed as a city‑only build.
The city first announced this spring that it had entered into an exclusive negotiating window with USL to explore bringing men’s and women’s teams to Pensacola and to study a downtown venue designed for soccer but capable of hosting other events. Exclusivity means the city is not courting other leagues while USL and the city evaluate market interest, potential ownership, and sites.
Reeves cast the process as two tracks moving in parallel. The first examines community and investor appetite, including sponsorships and local ownership; the second focuses on where — and how — to build.
“The elephant in the room is where’s the facility gonna go?” he said Tuesday. The working model mirrors recent USL builds: a compact venue downtown sized to feel full on most nights and flexible enough for non‑soccer uses.
“There are models to do a 3,500 to 5,000 seat stadium downtown,” Reeves said. He added that the league’s approach works best when it avoids years in temporary venues and opens in a purpose‑built setting that can also host civic uses.
“You could do festivals in it," he said. "You could do high school football in it … and I think that would be the direction that they would want to go.”
Where it could — and likely could not — go
Reeves said early conversations have ruled out some of the most speculated locations. The Community Maritime Park, a baseball venue that also accommodates college football, presents both scheduling and field‑alignment problems for professional soccer and would be too make‑shift.
“You have an east‑west field and FIFA doesn’t like an east‑west field because you're playing into the sun and out of the sun,” he said, later calling that setup “too temporary from a seating standpoint.”
Other downtown sites come with geometry and parking constraints. Reeves said a true soccer configuration needs a clear north‑south field run and enough room around it to meet professional standards.
“You need 500 feet-ish north and south, and neither of those provide that,” he said of ideas floated for the Tech Park and the Pensacola Bay Center parking lots. City staff, he added, are exploring more creative options, but no site has been announced.
Who would pay
The mayor was unequivocal that the stadium, if it happens, would be financed by multiple parties and not borne entirely by the city.
“This will not be a fully funded municipal stadium if it were to happen,” Reeves said. "... It could be that the private side finances this and the city finances parking."
Reeves described the order‑of‑magnitude for a USL‑scale build as roughly in the mid‑eight figures, noting that site conditions and amenities can move the number.
“That kind of $45 million is probably kind of the going price for the level of stadium that they’re putting in like communities,” he said.
USL requires some share of local ownership, and Reeves said he prefers that structure because it helps ground sponsorships and community support. He also said he believes Pensacola can sustain a team.
“I feel perfectly confident that we have a market that can support it,” he said, adding that there is interest from locals with both resources and soccer knowledge.
Timeline and next steps
Reeves said the near‑term objective is not a finalized financing stack but clarity on location and a feasible path.
“My hope is over the next six months that we get additional clarity on where a potential facility might go,” he said.
