Announcement

**Unregistered** · 01-30-2019, 11:59 PM

Originally posted by Unregistered View Post

Reign just seems like it is spinning its wheels, but these seams to at least be sustainable in the short-term: https://www.reignfc.com/blog/letter

Looks like they are attempting to expand the academy with move into Tacoma; looks like some competition for Washington Premier, although Reign I think is pure pay-to-play, so we'll see how much progress they can make against the incumbent.

Thanks for sharing! That is a well written article. And if you read it, the Reign Academy players will remain practicing in Seattle and the Eastside, not Tacoma.

**Unregistered** · 01-31-2019, 12:05 AM

Originally posted by Unregistered View Post

Thanks for sharing! That is a well written article. And if you read it, the Reign Academy players will remain practicing in Seattle and the Eastside, not Tacoma.

That was a letter from the owners not an article; was pointing to the part of the article where they said they would expand the scope of the academy with the move (assuming that meant into Tacoma) while continuing up north. Here is Soccer America's article on the move:

NWSL's Reign forced to leave Seattle for Tacoma because of 'constellation of challenges'

After five years at Memorial Stadium, a Seattle public high school facility with soccer roots dating back to the NASL Seattle Sounders in the early 1970s, the NWSL's Seattle Reign is on the move.

In a move forced because of what its owners, Bill and Teresa Predmore, termed a "constellation of challenges," the club is moving to Tacoma, 35 miles south of Seattle, and has been renamed Reign FC.

It will play its home matches at Cheney Stadium -- home of the minor-league baseball Tacoma Rainiers and Tacoma Defiance, the rebranded Sounders FC 2 -- beginning with the 2019 NWSL season and then move into the new soccer facility the Rainiers and Sounders intend to build next to Cheney Stadium.

The move also comes with a injection of new owners. The group operating the Rainiers and S2 took �a significant minority ownership stake�� in the team, and Sounders owner Adrian Hanauer and his mother, Lenore, have acquired minority ownership stakes.

Seattle Reign attendance:
YEAR AVERAGE
*2013: 2,036
2014: 3,632
2015: 4,060
2016: 4,602
2017: 4,037
2018: 3,824
*Played at Starfire Stadium in Tukwila.

Memorial Stadium, owned by Seattle Public Schools, has a long history but had too many problems -- issues with safety, accessibility, security and seismic standards -- for it to continue to work as a home for the Reign.

�It�s a 71-year-old building," Reign owner Bill Predmore, "and there were intractable challenges in that space that money alone wasn�t going to solve."

In a letter to Reign fans, Predmore and wife Theresa, a co-owner, stated that Memorial Stadium's playing surface does not meet U.S. Soccer's Pro League Standards and another waiver was not going to be extended. The stadium facilities were also not good enough for national television broadcasts to air from the venue and the Reign was not allowed to sell alcohol at the site.

For a while, the Seattle Public Schools contemplated tearing down the stadium and re-building it, but those plans weren't included in a capital levy Seattle residents will vote on in February. Ultimately, the Predmores decided not to pursue doing the stadium renovation work themselves and the stadium lease with Seattle Public Schools was not extended beyond the 2018 season.

The Predmores listed seven other stadiums in and around Seattle they explored as possible venues, but all failed to meet Pro League Standards in terms of non-compliant playing surface or non-compliant seating or in the case of T-Mobile Field, home the baseball Seattle Mariners, would have cost so much money to convert the field back and forth from baseball to soccer that it wasn't economically feasible.

The only other possibility: Century-Link Field, home of the Sounders and NFL Seahawks. It meets Pro League Standards, but a deal with First & Goal, owner of the stadium and Seahawks, couldn't be worked out.

**Unregistered** · 02-01-2019, 07:50 PM

"Nothing Says Big League Like Tacoma"

Why the rip on Tacoma? Memorial Stadium was the worst!

**Unregistered** · 02-01-2019, 08:09 PM

Originally posted by Unregistered View Post

"Nothing Says Big League Like Tacoma"

Why the rip on Tacoma? Memorial Stadium was the worst!

Get on board the T-Reign!

**Unregistered** · 02-01-2019, 08:18 PM

Originally posted by Unregistered View Post

"Nothing Says Big League Like Tacoma"

Why the rip on Tacoma? Memorial Stadium was the worst!

Honestly kind of liked Memorial Stadium as decrepit as it was.

**Unregistered** · 02-02-2019, 12:41 AM

From the WA threads

�They are merging with Washington Premier. With Crossfire doing ECNL only next year, the writing was on the wall on DA in NW. Announcement is planned for May.�

**Unregistered** · 02-02-2019, 01:46 AM

Originally posted by Unregistered View Post

�They are merging with Washington Premier. With Crossfire doing ECNL only next year, the writing was on the wall on DA in NW. Announcement is planned for May.�

The next post said �fake news�. Everyone can read the WA trail too, duh. All is conjecture at this point.

**Unregistered** · 02-02-2019, 11:19 AM

Originally posted by Unregistered View Post

�They are merging with Washington Premier. With Crossfire doing ECNL only next year, the writing was on the wall on DA in NW. Announcement is planned for May.�

That would be big news for the ever changing soccer landscape in the northwest. Even if not true, the move to Tacoma is pretty big and will mean lots of changes coming.

**Unregistered** · 02-02-2019, 02:00 PM

Anyone know if Reign Academy helps subsidize Reign FC? If so, wouldn�t surprise me if their GDA folds within the next year or so.

**Unregistered** · 02-02-2019, 10:09 PM

Originally posted by Unregistered View Post

Anyone know if Reign Academy helps subsidize Reign FC? If so, wouldn�t surprise me if their GDA folds within the next year or so.

Originally Seattle United and Eastside FC supported the Reign Academy. SU pulled out last year in the middle of the first season. Eastside isn't interested in paying for the Reign Academy anymore.

**Unregistered** · 02-02-2019, 10:28 PM

Originally posted by Unregistered View Post

Originally Seattle United and Eastside FC supported the Reign Academy. SU pulled out last year in the middle of the first season. Eastside isn't interested in paying for the Reign Academy anymore.

SU left GDA and is ECNL now. With the move to Tacoma, will Eastside still support Reign GDA? Will players travel that far to practice?

**Unregistered** · 02-03-2019, 03:27 AM

Why are we discussing this in the Oregon forum?

**Unregistered** · 02-03-2019, 09:57 AM

Originally posted by Unregistered View Post

Why are we discussing this in the Oregon forum?

Same reason Washington teams play (and win) in Oregon�s State Cup?

**Unregistered** · 02-03-2019, 12:48 PM

Originally posted by Unregistered View Post

Same reason Washington teams play (and win) in Oregon�s State Cup?

With that said the conversation should be centered on how average teams from Washington are better than any of our local clubs?

Which is hysterical at some levels and quite disappointing too.

What happened to the Oregon club scene?

Announcement

Nothing Says Big League Like Tacoma

Nothing Says Big League Like Tacoma

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