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Members of Grand Rapids FC celebrate with a crowd of 6,500 at Houseman Field in July after the team won the Great Lakes West conference title.

(Allison Farrand | MLive.com)

The Grand Rapids Football Club is in talks with the United Soccer League and potential investors to bring a professional team to the area.

Team owner Matt Roberts said Tuesday his group has also been in contact with the City of Grand Rapids to secure a venue for the team, an idea that would cost upwards of $40 million.

"It has been a lot of work the past couple months but it has also been great," Roberts said. "I think the evolution of soccer in West Michigan is just going to keep moving forward."

A "destination asset study" presented Monday by Grand Action Committee included a recommendation that the city seek out a professional team and build an 8,000-seat venue for soccer.

The USL option is a third-division league within the U.S. soccer pyramid, or one above where GRFC currently plays (National Premier Soccer League) and behind the North American Soccer League and Major League Soccer - the most widely known league in American.

MORE: A look at United Soccer League

The USL has announced plans to expand from 30 to 40 teams across the country over the next five years.

The cost of a franchise: $5 million, Roberts said.

"The next step is a major one and that is to get the financial backing to get it done," he said.

The financial hurdles would just start there. Roberts said the team would also have to attract and sign professional players - salaries can range from $1,000 to $10,000 a month - and build a staff of 20 to 30.

"In doing our research, the total player packages would be between $650,000 and $1 million (a year) from what we can tell," he said.

As an amateur team, GRFC players seldom receive anything more than gas or meal money for a road trip.

There is also a venue to consider. Currently, the team plays at city-owned Houseman Field, which has football lines on its artificial-turf field and a track surrounding the playing field. Both are prohibited in the USL.

The team and city will meet again next week, Roberts said, to studying options for the short term with a goal to build an 8,000-seat stadium for soccer as well as other events, such as concerts.

Is all this attainable?

"I don't know. I'd like to hope it is but time will tell," Roberts said, adding that early reaction from potential investors "has been generally positive."

But, he believes, the interest is there. The Grand Action report noted attendance the first two seasons for GRFC has been about 4,500, including 4,315 last season for 12 dates. That would be above average in the USL. Roberts also pointed that Michigan's youth soccer participation has grown to ninth nationally, and those kids become fans.

"You look at interest from millennials and it's the second most popular sport in America from that age group," he said. "You look at franchise fees for MLS and the USL and they've gone up exponentially in the last five to 10 years.

"I think investors here locally are seeing what we built and are excited about having a brand in town that they can turn into a professional team, but also see a long-term financial value as well."

Here's a photo gallery from a GRFC game last summer.