The Hillsborough County School Board will vote on a proposal to expand Blake High School’s riverfront football stadium to have a seating capacity of 1,800 to around 5,000 at their October 17^th meeting. The expansion, along with other enhancements, would satisfy capacity requirements of the upstart professional women’s league as they seek Division I certification from USA Soccer. The games would mainly be played on Saturday nights, so little impact would be made to the school.

The field is located across the Hillsborough River from Armature Works. The use of the field for the team would be temporary as the tams plans a soccer-only stadium and a practice facility in Ybor has already been proposed. Developer Darryl Shaw, Bern’s Steak House owner David Laxer, and former BluePearl executive Jeff Fox co-own the team and the name, logo, and colors are all to be revealed in coming weeks according to press releases.

The USL Super League will have an initial 8 teams and five more trams are expected to be added in the coming years, including a Jacksonville team co-owned by Tim Tebow. The 8 initial teams are in:

Charlotte, North Carolina

Lexington, Kentucky

Phoenix, Arizona

Spokane, Washington

Tampa, Florida

Tucson, Arizona

Washington, D.C.

Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas

Using the Blake High School field would include upgrades to the fields turf and beautification projects on Blake’s campus. The school board will vote on a memorandum of understanding with Florida Community Events LLC, which was established by Shaw in September. There will also be a vote on amending deed restrictions with the City of Tampa to accommodate the team. The request will permit greater access to the Riverwalk according to an agenda.

The teams inaugural season will begin in August 2024.