Soccer Is Coming to Circuit of the Americas
A new USL team will be building its home right beside the race track.
Circuit of the Americas has brought us some of the best motorsport action since its construction in 2012. American Le Mans racing, Formula One, and loads of IMSA action fill the track with fans packing in like sardines to spectate. The venue even added concerts to its list of attractions by booking Taylor Swift last year and Justin Timberlake swooping in this fall, but now, something new is being added to COTA that we never would have guessed—a professional soccer field.
According to a report from the Austin America-Statesmen website, a new United Soccer League team will be making its home at Circuit of the Americas. It will be built directly beside the race track, though it will be solely dedicated to soccer.
"For the first time, we'll have our own intimate, purpose-built stadium, an international-size field, no football lines, no track," COTA chairman Bobby Epstein said to the American-Statesman. "We'll get fans close to the action."
The arena will seat nearly 5,000 fans and be completed by 2019. This will allow for competition to begin promptly after, drawing in new fans to COTA grounds.
Officials hope that this will put the entire facility on display and bring in unique visitors for COTA.
“We’re coming back in a big way,” Epstein said of the addition. The USL currently serves as a Division II league, slotting right below Major League Soccer, and recently gained a television contract with ESPN. This will aid exposure efforts for the event and broadcast it to a broad audience.