A stadium for two low level minor league soccer teams is being built.
Ground was recently broken in Mauldin, South Carolina for a soccer venue that will open sometime in 2026. The 6,300-seat stadium will be the home of the United Soccer League’s Greenville Triumph SC and women’s soccer Greenville Liberty SC. The stadium will also host youth and college sports, concerts, festivals, marching band competitions, and community events. The original plans for the stadium had the capacity at 10,000 seats. The stadium backers said the reduced seating capacity would offer a “more intimate experience for fans.” The soccer franchises are more of a real estate company than being a part of a sports business. That is the trend of sports today, build a stadium and surround it with residential space along with retail and office space and hope that people show up and spend money. Mauldin, South Carolina is a town of around 25,000 people and the local population, whether they like it or not, is heavily invested in the building of the stadium-village.
Mauldin taxpayers are on the hook for $4 million for the project. South Carolina residents are picking up $10 million of the stadium-village’s construction cost with the franchises’ ownership kicking in $13.5 million. Private investors are throwing in $45 million. The six-acre piece of property where the stadium will sit was donated by Phil Hughes. Hughes happens to own Bridgeway Station and that is the village part of the stadium-village. “We’re not just building another stadium,” Hughes said. “We’re establishing a hub that will drive community pride for local growth. This facility is meant to be more than a spot just to watch soccer. It’s designed to be the core of the community and Bridgeway Station. It’s meant to be a place that reflects not just who we are in the Upstate, but where we’re going.” It’s a real estate deal.
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