The Seattle Sounders plan to move their reserve team to Tacoma, where they will build a new 5,000-seat soccer-specific stadium.
Sounders 2 currently plays in the second-tier United Soccer League at the 4,500-seat Starfire Sports complex outside of Seattle.
Once the move south to Tacoma is completed, Sounders 2 will be co-owned with the Tacoma Rainiers, the Triple-A affiliate of Major League Baseball's Seattle Mariners, who will rebrand the team name.
The stadium will be built next to the Rainiers' Cheney Stadium, and the baseball team will take over the team's business operations while the Sounders will "retain technical control of the soccer side."
"We are absolutely thrilled to be moving forward with the Tacoma Rainiers and City of Tacoma, progressing toward construction of a soccer-specific stadium," Sounders owner Adrian Hanauer said in a statement.
"Our vision of having players begin their time with the club playing at Starfire with the Academy, then move up to the USL team with matches in Tacoma, before finally getting the call-up to the First Team at CenturyLink Field -- all while playing within the Puget Sound region -- really reinforces our commitment to bringing quality soccer to the communities of Western Washington."
