Plans to bring professional football to Buffalo by 2026 still underway, stadium project ‘ahead of schedule’

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — While “soccer” may not be returning to England, progress is being made toward bringing a professional United Soccer League Championship team back to Buffalo by 2026.

Buffalo Pro Soccer held its third community town hall meeting Tuesday at the Lloyd Taco Factory in Williamsville, addressing attendees on the status of the quest to bring a USL Championship men’s team to Western New York, to be joined by a professional women’s team in the USL Super League shortly thereafter.

Now, just under four months after the teams and plans to build a 10,000-seat modular stadium to house each team were officially announced, group president Peter Marlette Jr. told WIVB News 4 that movement on a stadium is actually “ahead of schedule” at this point.

“On the stadium side, I’m definitely further along than we expected,” said Marlette, a Buffalo native and former general manager of championship club Union Omaha in USL League One.

As for the stadium location, Marlette only has two potential sites in the city of Buffalo and has decided to hire a developer to evaluate which location makes the most sense from a development standpoint. Additionally, an architect has been hired to assist in the process.

“I know both make sense from a professional football standpoint, but I want someone who’s developing major projects to tell me if there are pros and cons to either,” Marlette said. “They’ve been doing their pre-development work and kind of laying the foundation for what the stadium could look like at one of these sites for about a month now. So it’s coming along really well.”

The biggest hurdle is probably getting the financial backing that would not only allow the stadium to be built, but also allow the club to operate.

A USL championship-level club requires a principal owner who owns at least 35 percent of the team and has a net worth of about $30 million. Additionally, Marlette reiterated Tuesday his belief that the stadium’s construction could be entirely, if not largely, privately funded.

Despite these challenges, Marlette suggested he is about where he expected to be financially at this point in the process.

“From an investment perspective, the local investment community has embraced this idea with enthusiasm,” he said. “People believe in it and are investing their money in it. I’ve had some very good conversations with high net worth individuals. We’ll see how they continue to progress, but I’m completely happy with where we are.”

Marlette is not the only one who is satisfied with the current state of the process.

During Tuesday’s public Q&A, Marlette mentioned a recent conversation with the USL Championship CEO in which the executive said the Buffalo Pro Soccer project has moved faster than any other expansion project in the league.

Is the ambitious timeline of establishing a master owner by the end of 2024, breaking ground on a stadium in early 2025 and having the men’s professional team participate in the 2026 USL Championship season still on track?

“We are on track to do that, absolutely,” Marlette said.

Other Notes on Buffalo Pro Soccer

• Marlette said he has investors who are considering “writing big checks” for the project but are waiting to see the stadium’s final location.
• Asked about the USL Championship’s television rights deals with ESPN and CBS, Marlette said he had “every intention” of negotiating a deal with a Western New York station to broadcast the club’s games locally.
• The club’s goal is to field at least one or two Western New York natives on the professional roster each season, according to Marlette.
• Buffalo Pro Soccer will be hosting a 3-on-3 street soccer tournament on August 18. Participation in the competition will be free, with location and details to be announced at a later date.