‘It’s an exciting day.’ Lexington Sporting Club opens its new soccer-specific stadium.

A moment of Kentucky sports history, tinged with green, came into full view Sunday in Lexington.

Less than one year after plans were announced, Lexington Sporting Club opened its new soccer-specific stadium in the city along Athens Boonesboro Road near Interstate 75.

The venue, which can seat 7,500 fans, welcomed a crowd of 3,946 for a USL Super League match between LSC’s professional women’s soccer team and the Tampa Bay Sun.

While Tampa Bay emerged with an entertaining 3-2 win, Sunday evening’s result was always going to be secondary compared to the occasion itself.

Now, Lexington Sporting Club has its own home for its professional women’s team in the USL Super League and its professional men’s team, which currently plays in USL League One but will move up a level to the USL Championship next year.

“I was so happy about the stadium and all the fans that came out,” Michael Dickey, the head coach of LSC’s women’s team, said after Sunday’s game. “I wish we could have won for them today, but I think at least we did provide some entertainment. That’s the positive side. But overall, when you look around at this stadium, it’s unbelievable. It could be one of the best venues in the United States for soccer only.”

The dignitaries on hand for Sunday’s stadium opening were fitting for the occasion. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and USL Super League President Amanda Vandervort were among those in attendance.

“It’s historic, today’s a historic day for Lexington, for Kentucky sports and for all of us in the USL, (in) the USL Super League,” Vandervort told the Herald-Leader. “… It’s like a monument to what we’re building really, and the future of women’s professional sports and it’s right here in Lexington, Kentucky.”

Beshear was also on hand last October when LSC held a groundbreaking event at the site of the current stadium.

“The speed (at which) we have constructed this, it’s something I’m going to show a lot of companies that are looking at Kentucky,” Beshear said with a smile. “But just the feel of it, the look of it, it’s pretty incredible. This is going to be an iconic addition to this area.”

When LSC broke ground on the stadium last fall, Beshear said more than $92 million was estimated to be generated over the next decade by the venue, which is part of a larger LSC soccer complex that also includes seven training and youth fields and represents an $80 million investment by LSC’s ownership, according to the team.

“From the beginning, (LSC majority owner) Bill Shively set out to create something that this community could really be proud of,” Vandervort said. “From the practice fields that he’s built on the whole plot of land to erecting this stadium here, I think it’s an indication of his commitment to the city of Lexington and this community. … I think that’s what it’s about. The little girls, the little boys who can come out today in Lexington, Kentucky, and say, ‘Yeah, I can be a professional soccer player. Right here in my home city.’”

The expectation remains that the stadium and soccer complex will lead to additional business development along the Athens Boonesboro corridor.

“This is going to be a major economic development achievement, it’s also going to be a major tourism driver,” Beshear said, while noting the important role that the stadium and its surrounding facilities will play in the growth of women’s sports in the region.

Lexington Sporting Club sets franchise attendance mark at new stadium

Not everything was fully operational for Sunday’s Super League match and stadium debut. While all 7,500 seats were in place in the stadium, which is known (for now) as Lexington SC Stadium, several areas of the venue were still noticeably under construction.

This included concession stands that were fenced off, parking lots that were yet to be paved and buildings that aren’t yet ready for entry. For example, a building that will host LSC’s team shop and a VIP area wasn’t ready Sunday, so both of those locations were shifted to outside tents.

But the stadium does make efficient use of its completed spaces. Beverage and food trucks filled an outdoor concourse Sunday, with a particularly strong presence from LSC sponsors West Sixth Brewing and Bad Ass Coffee of Hawaii.

While Sunday’s crowd of 3,946 fans represented just 52.6% of the stadium’s listed 7,500-seat capacity, it still represented an all-time record gate for Lexington Sporting Club.

Previously, the club’s highest-ever attendance for a home match came in April 2023, when 3,029 fans watched Lexington Sporting Club’s men’s pro team play its first-ever home match at the 5,000-seat Toyota Stadium on the campus of Georgetown College.

Sunday also marked the first home match in the history of LSC’s professional women’s team, which now has a 0-1-1 (W-L-D) record after two matches of Super League play.

LSC’s men’s team will play its final three home games of the 2024 USL League One season at the new Lexington SC Stadium, starting with Friday night’s matchup against One Knoxville SC.

Kentucky adds another soccer-specific stadium in Lexington

With the Lexington SC Stadium now opened, both of Kentucky’s professional soccer organizations now have soccer-specific stadiums to call their own.

Louisville City of the USL Championship (the league LSC’s men’s team will join next year) and Racing Louisville of the National Women’s Soccer League both play at Lynn Family Stadium in Louisville’s Butchertown neighborhood. That stadium opened in 2020.

Now, both of Lexington’s professional soccer teams also have their own home ground.

“It’s exciting, to have professional teams that are going to be playing here, how quickly it came up,” Beshear said. “Lexington, Frankfort, all of our cities and counties turning out to support this new team.”

The creation of a soccer-specific stadium has long been viewed as an essential part of Lexington’s presence in the American men’s and women’s soccer markets.

Earlier this year, USL Championship President Jeremy Alumbaugh described the new venue as a “transformational stadium project” and stated its importance to LSC’s men’s team moving up to that division.

“It will be the place to be on a Saturday night for the men’s team, or the women’s team, and a place that the youth can look over and have aspirations, and again, have that ambition, to perhaps be there someday,” Alumbaugh said in August.

“I think it’s an alignment of vision and values,” Vandervort, the Super League president, said Sunday about LSC’s ownership and the facilities the franchise now has.

“That community value, giving the women the treatment, the facilities, the stadium. But everything across the board from their training facilities to the coaching staffs to the front office, the investment they’ve been making across the board is an indication of their intent with this club. And that’s what aligns with us at the USL, because we want to be a global leader in women’s soccer. … You can just feel the energy here.”

The opening of the Lexington SC Stadium is a significant addition to the commonwealth’s sports portfolio.

“Soccer has taken hold, both in Louisville and now in Lexington, and not just with one team, but with multiple teams,” Beshear said. “And then with the practice fields, and then with the youth development league. What they’re really doing is building for the long term. And you can see how it’s not only going to be successful, but it’s going to provide opportunities for the kids of Kentucky to be able to play professional sports.”

Upcoming USL Super League matches for Lexington

Lexington Sporting Club’s women’s team will be back in action Friday at Dallas Trinity FC, a match that will be played in the city’s historic Cotton Bowl. The game gets underway at 8 p.m. EDT and, like all USL Super League matches, will be broadcast live on Peacock.

LSC’s next home Super League match is Sept. 22 against Fort Lauderdale FC, a 4 p.m. start at Lexington Sporting Club’s new stadium.

After those two matches, the LSC women will play five times more at home and five more games on the road during the fall portion of their schedule between now and Dec. 14.

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