Cleveland Pro Soccer is the ownership group co-founded by Michael Murphy and Nolan Gallagher, based in Cleveland, Ohio. The group owns an independent men's professional soccer team that plans to participate in MLS NEXT Pro. The group is also presenting a bid in 2024 for the 16th expansion team in the

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league at the top of the United States league system. It is owned by the teams and, until 2020, was under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federatio ...

(NWSL).

History and leadership

Gallagher and Murphy, who met as classmates at Cleveland's Ohio City neighborhood's historic St. Ignatius High School, founded Gravitas Ventures in 2006 in Los Angeles. Under their leadership, Gravitas became a global-rights theatrical film distribution company, releasing more than 3,000 video-on-demand (VOD) films and winning awards and notice from industry organizations like the

Film Independent Spirit Awards The Independent Spirit Awards (abbreviated Spirit Awards and originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards), founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with acrylic glass ...

, the

Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motion ...

and numerous film festivals. In 2019 they moved the firm to Cleveland to “…further economic momentum for media and entertainment in their hometown.” In 2021, they sold Gravitas to Anthem Sports & Entertainment Co., a multi-platform media conglomerate from Toronto, for $73 million. In 2022, they co-founded Cleveland Professional Soccer with Murphy as CEO, and Gallagher, president of the sports team ownership group. On March 31, 2023, Gallagher stepped down as Gravitas CEO to focus on the soccer team. In an interview with Front Office Sports, Gallagher said the idea of bringing professional outdoor soccer to Cleveland came up in 2021, when he and Murphy recognized that Cleveland was the only top-20 market without professional outdoor soccer teams.

MLS Next Pro Team

On November 21, 2022, MLS Next Pro announced that a new independent club, Cleveland Pro Soccer, in Cleveland would join the league as early as 2025. In April 2024,

Cleveland Scene The ''Cleveland Scene'' is an alternative weekly newspaper based in Cleveland, Ohio. The newspaper includes highlights of Cleveland-area arts, music, dining, and films, as well as classified advertising. The first edition of the newspaper was pub ...

's Vince Grzegorek reported that the MLS Next Pro team's debut would likely be delayed (from 2025) as the ownership group finalized plans for a soccer-specific stadium in Cleveland. The team's name, colors and crest will be revealed at a later date. A stadium announcement, including location and seating capacity, is expected in 2024.

NWSL expansion bid

Cleveland Pro Soccer presented a bid for the 15th

NWSL expansion The expansion of the National Women's Soccer League began with the league's sophomore season in 2014, when the league expanded to a ninth team in Houston, and is an ongoing process that currently has seen five expansions, three direct or indirect re ...

team. Cleveland was among four finalist teams, including Boston, San Francisco and Tampa. The expansion team was eventually granted to NWSL Boston in December 2022. NWSL commissioner

Jessica Berman Jessica may refer to: Given name * Jessica (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters with this name * Jessica Folcker, a Swedish singer known by the mononym Jessica * Jessica Jung, a Korean-American singer known by the m ...

announced in November 2023 that the league would add a 16th team by 2026. In October 2023, Cleveland Pro Soccer announced the group was preparing to present a bid for the 16th

team. The team would be the first and only professional women's soccer team in the state of Ohio. Cleveland's potential as a home for both a MLS (Next) and NWSL team is enhanced by its unique sports profile. Like three of the other NWSL cities (Louisville, San Diego and Cary, NC), Cleveland does not have an MLS team; the closest team is the Columbus Crew, two hours away. Additionally Cleveland has the smallest population of any city with an MLB (Guardians), NFL (Browns) and NBA (Cavaliers) franchise. Cleveland sports fans have proven their passion for their teams; clearly a void exists for soccer. The success of the record-setting 2024 NCAA Women's Final Four in Cleveland demonstrated the growing popularity of women's sports. Gallagher and Murphy report that – with no team, no logo, no name and no stadium – they already have 13,000 pledges to purchase season tickets, demonstrating potential support for a team.

New stadium efforts

In an interview with Front Office Sports, co-founders Gallagher and Murphy said a stadium plan would be important for attracting an NWSL team to the city. In February 2024, the Ohio House of Representatives earmarked funding for "Cleveland Women's Soccer Stadium". Gallagher and Murphy are seeking $90 million in government investment from city, county and state sources via admission tax and public revenue bonds, to build a new stadium, seating 13,000, in downtown Cleveland. They propose investing $193 million on their own for the stadium, practice facilities and on both the NWSL and MLS Next teams. The stadium would also host high school and college events as well as act as a concert venue on as many as 60 occasions/year. The structure will be the first public/private stadium in the US that focuses on women's sports, according to Murphy.

References

External links