The Reign had played in Seattle’s Memorial Stadium, averaging just over 3,800 fans per game last seasonGETTY IMAGES
The NWSL Seattle Reign FC is "moving its home games" to Tacoma's Cheney Stadium for the upcoming season and are rebranding to simply Reign FC, according to a front-page piece by Andrew Hammond of the Tacoma NEWS TRIBUNE. The group operating the Triple-A PCL Tacoma Rainiers, who also play at Cheney, is "taking a significant minority ownership stake in the Reign FC." Sounders Owner Adrian Hanauer and his mother, Lenore, also are "making a separate minority investment." Reign FC had previously played in Seattle’s Memorial Stadium, where they "averaged just over 3,800 fans per game" last season. It was the "first time the team was under 4,000 fans per game" since '14. The "declining attendance, the aging facility and the restrictions on being able to sell alcohol at the stadium were factors in the move." Metro Parks Tacoma President Aaron Pointer said that a "feasibility study for a 5,000-seat soccer stadium in central Tacoma on the Cheney Stadium footprint could be done as soon as the next few weeks" (Tacoma NEWS TRIBUNE, 1/31). In Seattle, Geoff Baker notes Reign FC Owner Bill Predmore had "moved the team" from Starfire Sports in Tukwila to Memorial Stadium at Seattle Center in '14, but the relocation "never had the desired effect in terms of attendance growth, facility conditions or revenue generating opportunities." The club has "no plans to incorporate 'Tacoma'” within its name. Predmore said that he "prefers a more 'global' brand that appeals throughout the state" (SEATTLE TIMES, 1/31).
