The United Soccer League is set to plant its flag in the Silver State with an expansion franchise in Reno, Nev., according to a new report by ScratchingThePitch.com.
The site reports that the new club will be ready to play in 2016 and has lined up billionaire real-estate magnate Herb Simon, owner of the NBA’s Indiana Pacers, as an investor. Simon is already involved with the Reno Aces, the city's minor-league baseball team.
USL – which inked a player-development partnership with MLS in 2011 – has experienced a surge in growth in recent years.
Scratching The Pitch reckons that Reno would be one of six new teams to join USL next year, taking the league's total to 30, up from 24 this season and a more-than-twofold increase on the 14 teams that competed in USL last year.
A growing number of MLS teams field reserve sides in USL, a path first charted by the LA Galaxy and subsequently followed by Montreal, New York Red Bulls, Toronto, Portland, Real Salt Lake, Seattle and Vancouver.
Rio Grande Valley FC, a South Texas club allied with the Houston Dynamo, is set to debut in 2016, as are MLS entries from Orlando City and the Philadelphia Union.
