Aiming for a ‘top dog’: Could a pro soccer team be coming to the Boise area?

Weeks after the Olympics wrapped up, and ahead of the 2026 World Cup, soccer is having a moment, Ada county officials say.

The county is looking for ways to develop part of Expo Idaho near The Park at Expo Idaho, a 97-acre project expected to be completed in 2026 at the site of an abandoned horse-racing track. They want to do it without using taxpayer dollars, and they think soccer may be the answer.

“What I’ve been feeling in this community, and I’ve been researching this for quite some time, is that there’s a need” for a soccer field complex, Bob Batista, Expo Idaho’s director, told county commissioners Wednesday. “I think there’s somebody out there — I’m hoping there’s somebody out there — that can come along and say that’s something of interest.”

Batista and Ada County Chief Operating Officer Steve Rutherford got the commissioners’ green light to explore the feasibility of this plan by putting a 30-year lease for the land — about 30 acres — up for auction, targeting an offer around $150,000 per year.

Notice of the auction will likely be out to the public within the next month, Rutherford said. And if the county decides to go forward with a soccer complex, he estimated it could have a signed lease and development agreement ready by the end of the year. That could be an agreement with a soccer club or a sports complex developer, Batista said.

Rutherford said his goal would be to attract “somebody involved with the U.S. Soccer Federation.” Batista added that they would seek out a “top dog” team but did not specify which league that team might play in.

“We’d start at the top with a high level, and then what we can do is develop smaller leagues or kids’ leagues as we go forward,” he said. “My look is to see if there’s somebody out there that’s willing to take on this project here. It’s a great project, and 30 years will give them plenty of time to build this out and then make some return on their investment.”

Officials expressed the hope that whatever developer took on the lease would refurbish the grandstand at the site, as well as taking on maintenance, insurance and other costs.

They anticipate that the complex’s main field could also accommodate lacrosse, rugby and football games, even as it continues to be used as a concert venue during the Western Idaho Fair.

Horse racing at Expo Idaho stopped in 2016, and ever since, the county has paid for the lot’s maintenance while generating little revenue — other than from circus events — at the empty site. Commissioners said they hoped revenue generated from the soccer fields could help defray the cost of maintenance at The Park at Expo.

“We believe private development could be leveraged to build these fields over a period of time, could improve the grandstands, the Turf Club, the paddock area where the horse racing enterprise went on, to improve that area for professional soccer players, for spectators, for recreational leagues and for youth soccer in our community,” Rutherford said.

For now, the plan is in an early stage, and the county doesn’t need to commit to the idea until it’s time to sign a lease, Batista emphasized.

“If there’s nobody out there that fits this (request for bids), no harm, no foul,” he said. “We’re just trying to figure out if there’s interest.”

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