Reno has been without a professional soccer team since 2020, but the newest venture to bring professional soccer to Northern Nevada could become a pillar of the region’s burgeoning sports tourism economy.
Reno Pro Soccer’s plan to create a soccer stadium and entertainment complex on about 30 acres on Kietzke Lane is the most ambitious sports play in Reno-Sparks since the Reno Aces relocated from Tucson and began playing baseball at the newly-constructed Aces Ballpark (now Greater Nevada Field) in 2009.
“Sports tourism lifts everything within a town,” said Wendy Damonte, chief executive officer of Reno Pro Soccer. “Sports tourism is hitting an all-time high, and we’re extremely excited to bring another opportunity in that realm to Reno.”
Reno Pro Soccer acquired two adjacent parcels on Kietzke Lane in the fall of 2025. The site of the former Jones West Ford auto dealership was purchased for $16.5 million, while the 133,317 square-foot Peckham Square strip mall to the south was bought for $17.8 million, county records show. The auto dealership built in the late 1970s has been razed in preparation for the soccer stadium, while the strip mall constructed in the early part of the ’70s is still operating as Reno Pro Soccer advances the early phases of its development plans.
Those plans are no less transformative than those that turned a slew of dilapidated low-rise industrial buildings along the Truckee River on Second Street into a highly regarded minor league baseball stadium and Freight House entertainment district. A new Marriot-branded hotel was added across the street on Ballpark Lane in 2016.
Total cost for the soccer stadium and entertainment complex is projected to be about $350 million, including $80 million for a 6,200-seat soccer stadium that will run north-south alongside Interstate 580. The entertainment district calls for a 368-room, seven-story hotel, nearly two dozen bars, restaurants and retail outlets, a boutique casino, and five-story parking garage, Damonte said.
Securing a parcel that large in the city core was a stroke of luck — and perseverance — for Reno Pro Soccer. The executive team, which includes President John Doyle, searched every corner of Greater Reno-Sparks for a parcel large enough to house the stadium and attached entertainment district. It quickly became clear that the Truckee Meadows is a land-constrained market, Damonte said.
The dearth of large land plays shifted the nature of the conversation, she added.
“Land became the primary goal, no matter what (cost),” Damonte said.
Although the extensive demolition, site remediation and horizontal infrastructure required for the site significantly added to acquisition cost basis, the site was really the only land play available, Damonte told NNBW.
“In professional sports, you have to have surrounding land you can develop that makes a project profitable,” she said. “We looked for land for nine months. We went far north, far south, downtown – we talked to everybody in real estate trying to find that amount of land for sale.
“We started looking at areas to repurpose, and Jones West Ford was for sale. We talked to the owner of Peckham Square, and he was willing to sell, so we had just under 30 acres right along I-580 South; it’s outstanding.”
And that location is extremely unique. Damonte told NNBW that 130,000 vehicles pass by the location each day on Interstate 580, with another 27,000 driving past on Kietzke Lane. Its proximity to Reno-Tahoe International Airport – about three miles – also simplifies travel to the stadium for visiting teams and fans.
The Kietzke Lane corridor is a prime area for redevelopment capital, she added.
“That part of town absolutely needs revitalization,” Damonte said. “There’s nothing there that attracts families. We are really excited to be great neighbors to everyone around us and to make it a really beautiful part of town.”
Reno Pro Soccer has raised about one-third of the investment capital, or $50 million, required to build the stadium and entertainment complex. It still needs to raise another $100 million from accredited investment partners, with the rest of the project financing coming from traditional debt financing sources. Damonte said Reno Pro Soccer’s goal is to have the equity portion of the project funded by local investors.
“We have had investors up and down the East Coast calling us, but my dream would be to have it all funded by locals,” she said. “There is capital in this community, and I want (local) people to have ownership of this project. It is a legacy project for anybody who gets involved.
“Private equity is very interested, so if we can’t get enough money raised locally we’ll allow private equity to come in. We have a third of the money already, and the fact that we own the land is huge to investors.”
One of the biggest challenges to date has been finalizing the design of the soccer stadium. Convergence Design of Kansas City is the architect of record for the stadium, while Paul Heretakis of Westar Architects of Las Vegas is working on the design of the entertainment district.
“We think we’ve landed on a really great plan that’s incredibly unique and that the community will be super excited about,” Damonte said. “The size of our project is extremely large, and we want it all to work together cohesively.”
The hotel also may be an independent venture and not carry a corporate flag.
“We anticipate a lot of locals staying at the hotel, which reduces the need for a flag,” Damonte said. “If you’re really focused on the business traveler, flags are important, but we just haven’t decided. We’ll look into that and make a decision down the road.”
Reno Pro Soccer has already completed initial site engineering and has submitted its construction plans to various governing agencies for approval. Groundbreaking could happen as early as this year, Damonte said.
Reno Pro Soccer will officially unveil its team name and league affiliation, along with the team’s colors and crest, in an announcement at Reno Public Market on Sept. 9 from 5-7 p.m.
“The way our project is structured, it will be financially profitable over time,” Damonte said. “It is a very strong project, but we’re not building this great sports-anchored entertainment district just for us. We need more things for kids and families and the 20- and 30-year-olds to have a fun place to go out and meet people. It’s not just about bringing tourists in; it’s for the locals as well.”