The future operator of a proposed downtown Grand Rapids soccer stadium wants to work with the West Michigan Sports Commission to schedule programming at the stadium when it’s not being used by a professional team.
The Grand Rapids-Kent County Convention/Arena Authority Board of Directors voted this morning to authorize ASM Global to work with the WMSC to develop a booking policy for the $175 million, 8,500-seat soccer stadium.
The stadium developer, Grand Action 2.0, has said 17 professional soccer matches could be hosted at the stadium annually. An additional 56 community events could also be held at the venue just west of U.S. 131, drawing a combined total of 164,000 visitors per season.
WMSC President Mike Guswiler said setting dates for the professional soccer matches would be the main priority for the venue.
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Beyond that, the WMSC would work with the CAA and ASM Global to fill the venue on non-competition dates with sporting events that could include rugby, football and lacrosse, as well as other events that would benefit from the stadium’s wide open space, Guswiler said.
“We’ve already begun to identify some opportunities and we feel like we could bring in maybe two dozen events that could fill hotels and restaurants,” Guswiler told Crain’s. “For an investment of this nature, what we’re looking at is how we can maximize its value and its return to the community.”
Some organizations, including the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, have already reached out to the WMSC to inquire about hosting sporting events at the arena, Guswiler said. Schools in the GLIAC include Grand Valley State University and Ferris State University.
During community feedback sessions that Grand Action 2.0 held for the soccer stadium project, many residents were interested in seeing local youth soccer and other sports teams having an opportunity to play at the soccer stadium.
Rich MacKeigan, regional general manager for ASM Global, said while the soccer stadium wouldn’t be a community park, opportunities for local teams to use the facility could be made available.
“It’s a joint effort, and this entity, the CAA, needs to set the priority for the use of the facility,” MacKeigan said during the meeting. “There is absolutely a place for local utilization, absolutely, but it is not a community park open to everybody and that is the distinction.”
The WMSC is a nonprofit that formed in 2007 and hosts youth and amateur sporting events. In 2023, the WMSC hosted 121 events for a total of 277,980 athletes, which resulted in 43,775 hotel night stays and nearly $88 million of estimated economic spinoff, according to the nonprofit’s latest annual report. The Meijer Sports Complex and the Meijer State Games of Michigan are two additional operating branches of the WMSC.
Helping to book events for the soccer stadium would lean into work that the WMSC already does, Guswiler said.
“As an operation, we’ve grown in our over 16 years to three core operations, and our primary mission is to be an economic generator through sports tourism,” Guswiler said.
The WMSC has a department in services and sales that reaches out and identifies events that are open for bid. They specialize in youth and adult amateur sports and bring in statewide, regional and national competitions to the area, Guswiler added.
“Bringing in another professional team will only highlight that we’re a great sports destination,” Guswiler said. “This will bring so much more attention to our community and to our sports landscape and who we are as a destination.”
Grand Action 2.0 is simultaneously developing the Acrisure Amphitheater in downtown Grand Rapids, which broke ground on May 21. Live Nation is expected to serve as the venue’s principal booker after the CAA approved a term sheet with Live Nation on May 3, as Crain’s previously reported.
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