A group of Edmonton investors have acquired the franchise rights to both men's and women's soccer teams. Both teams will play in the United Soccer Leagues (USL) as members of the A-League and W-League beginning in spring of 2004. "We have brought together a diverse group of Edmonton investors who are committed to bringing professional soccer to Edmonton in a manner that is both affordable and sustainable. Clearly, we want to develop the sport of soccer for the benefit of youth in our community," said Tom Newton, Investor Spokesperson for Edmonton Professional Soccer Ltd." Bravo, Edmonton!
Not surprising after the success of the U-19 Women's Championships last fall at Commonwealth Stadium. Will be interesting to see what the W-League western division looks like after this season. Vancouver (or Whitecaps FC) have been threatening to leave for the past two off-seasons. That would leave Seattle as the only team in the Northwest for Edmonton to play. And with no other teams in western US and Canada close to Edmonton, there will be a lot of travel costs associated with Edmonton team budget.
I hope the Whitecaps don't leave now that they have Kara Lang for possibly a couple of years. Also I assume the main reason was the success of the U-19 and the fact that more than 32,000 tickets have been sold for Canada's Aug. 31 exhibition against Mexico in Edmonton. That's really good.