Jonathan Lintner

@JonathanLintner

Negotiations have progressed slower than anticipated to bring a United Soccer Leagues Pro Division club to Louisville, but as an agreement nears to start play at Slugger Field in 2015, fans have learned of their role.

Members of a local soccer support group, The Coopers, will get first crack at season tickets and the opportunity to own part of the would-be team through what Coopers president Taylor Sorrels calls an idea “unique in American sports.”

With few exceptions — the most well-known as the Green Bay Packers — an individual, corporation or small group owns sports franchises in the United States, whereas overseas it’s commonplace for soccer fans to get a share of their club.

“This group of fans would … have the same voting rights as any other team owner,” Sorrels said.

Coopers leadership recently met with Wayne Estopinal, a Louisville-based architect with ownership ties to the Orlando City Soccer Club, about the fan share.

Estopinal said in January he had hoped to cement plans to bring USL Pro soccer to town, moving Orlando City’s club here as that franchise enters Major League Soccer expansion. The USL Pro team in Louisville would work as an affiliate to Orlando’s MLS team, sharing a few players, and share Slugger Field with the Louisville Bats baseball club during the summer months.

News of negotiations went public once Orlando City president Phil Rawlins and president John Bonner visited Louisville to meet with Estopinal, city officials and The Coopers.

“Great demographic, great area — I think the city's got a great potential for soccer,” Rawlins said in January. “I think pro soccer would really make a great splash in Louisville.”

What left to be determined at that point was where a would-be USL Pro team will play, as well as who would own it. Estopinal and his team have progressed in both areas.

“I have not had a chance to put together the structure of the fan/owner entity yet, but our preliminary plan is to form an independent limited liability company and sell shares in that company to fans in exchange for partial ownership of the team, and the right to elect a representative who will speak on behalf of the fan shareholders on the pro team's board of directors,” Sorrels said. “This entity would be wholly owned by its fan shareholders and otherwise independent of the team and The Coopers.”

Through his spokesperson, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer has said he supports the USL-to-Louisville movement so long as it involves growing the city’s economy, visitor experience and sports sector.

The Coopers — named for bourbon barrel makers — packed Molly Malone’s on Baxter Avenue to greet the Orlando City owners in January. Later in the evening, Fischer made an appearance and posed for pictures wearing The Coopers’ blue and yellow scarf.

The Coopers continue to accept new members. Joining is free through the organization’s website, louisvillecoopers.com.

USL Pro is the nation's third-tier soccer organization, designated as Division III behind MLS (Division I) and the North American Soccer League (II). Thirteen teams played the league's 26-game schedule last season, with clubs stretching from Pittsburgh to Sacramento.

USL officials have already approved of a move to Louisville should Orlando's owners find enough local backing.

Jonathan Lintner can be reached at (502) 582-4199; follow him on Twitter @JonathanLintner.