BOISE, Idaho — Idahoans are one step closer to having professional soccer teams to root for.
Boise Pro Soccer won Ada County's bid Wednesday to develop part of Expo Idaho into a state-of-the-art, mixed-use sports park, which is slated to become the future home of those teams.
For nearly a decade, Les Boise Park has only been used for concerts during the Western Idaho Fair. Boise Pro Soccer plans to turn 27 acres into a sports park featuring several fields for various sports and a stadium.
The stadium is set to become the home to two professional soccer teams, a Division Three men's team and a Division One women's team.
CEO and co-founder Brad Stith said they partnered with the United Soccer League to make the dream a reality.
"It's really going to be one of the best sports parks when you look from a community asset that's in the northwest, if not the West," he said.
The project is phase two of the county's master plan to transform the area by 2026. Creating a public park is phase one.
"This is going to be a total entertainment package that you can come down there and do a variety of things," Expo Idaho Bob Batista said. "You could go to a home and garden show. You could go to a practice of soccer. You could go play in the park, and later on that night, you can watch a professional soccer game."
Boise Pro Soccer bid $150,000, the amount it will pay each year during the 30-year lease. It was the only bidder.
"The demand for soccer in our community has been quite high for a long time," co-founder Bill Taylor said.
Taylor, who is the U.S. Youth Soccer vice chair and former U.S. Soccer Federation vice president, called it a win for everyone.
"It's taken us a little longer than I would have liked to get us to this point," he said. "But we're here, and it's going to have a massive impact on the community all the way down to the grassroots of kids, you know, five- and six-years-old playing."
Boise Pro Soccer and the county have 90 days to negotiate the terms of the lease and a development agreement. Stith said they hope to have professional soccer teams playing within the next two years.
The project is privately funded.