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“With the decline in traditional brick and mortar retail, our belief is that people are not really going out to buy physical goods when they go out. They’re really going out for live experiences with their friends and family,” Papadakis says. “We would take down 50- 60 acres of land to build a stadium, as well as these surrounding real properties that create a better fan journey.”
The current league ownership and management team at USL came in during 2008. With many of the league’s revenue drivers still in the early stages, the organization expects to breach the US$100-million average valuation mark for its USL Championship clubs in the next several years.
Because the USL is a growth business, investors in the league look for returns through medium- to long-term asset growth rather than annual dividends. Over the next five years, Papadakis says the USL expects big drivers of revenue growth to materialize from media, player transfers, and sports betting. The addition of a women’s property to the league, in particular, promises to be a potent accelerant.
“So many investors, including us here at the USL, believe that women’s sports, can really rival and in some cases exceed the asset value of men’s sports,” he says. “The ability to combine professional women’s soccer into our stadiums, can help drive more dates and more use of the stadium. There will also be more people staying at the hotels, and drinking and eating at the bars and restaurants, so it makes sense on a profit and loss basis, and also from a long-term asset perspective.”
