Connecticut Sports Group said it has reached an agreement to host a team from a new league, WPSL Pro, which is launching in 2027.
A professional women’s soccer team could be coming to Bridgeport.
Connecticut Sports Group (CTSG), the organization behind the drive to build a waterfront stadium in the city, said it has reached an agreement to host a team from a new league, WPSL Pro, which is launching in 2027.
WPSL Pro will form a second division to the current Women’s Premier Soccer League.
Connecticut’s club, the league’s 18th committed franchise, is expected to kickoff in 2028, contingent on the completion of a new stadium in Bridgeport.
“We're amongst the top women's soccer markets in the country, and we don't have a women's professional team. So this will be that first team – we're really excited,” CTSG CEO André Swanston told the Hartford Business Journal.
Connecticut Sports Group has already announced its intention to bring a men’s team, from the MLS Next Pro league, to the city next year.
“We believe Connecticut needs to be on the map in terms of sports,” Swanston said. “This is another step in the direction of where we want to go. It’s going to be a multimillion-dollar commitment for Connecticut Sports Group in order to acquire and operate the club”
CTSG is still in talks with the state Department of Economic and Community Development over support for infrastructure around the proposed stadium.
“Over the last three weeks, we've met with them multiple times and I think they're very much engaged in analyzing the opportunity,” Swanston said.
Connecticut Sports Group has positioned the stadium complex as a live-work-play destination that would also include more than 1,000 housing units, create 1,300 permanent jobs, and generate $3.4 billion in statewide economic impact.
Swanston is seeking state funding for surrounding infrastructure for the project including roads, sewerage, and amenities like a riverwalk.
CTSG had lobbied for support during the last legislative session, but lawmakers requested an economic impact statement before committing to the funding.
The stadium project was approved for a tax increment financing district — an instrument that would use future property tax increases from the redevelopment to help finance stadium construction costs.
Swanston said he’s confident the state will see the value of the project.
“The ratio of private capital to public is superior to many other projects that have been supported by not just this administration but multiple administrations dating back decades,” he said. “With this project not only bringing two new teams, private funding for stadium, but also up to a thousand housing units, it's almost perfectly aligned with kind of all of the priorities that the administration has championed.”
