Tim Sullivan

@TimSullivan714

Maybe this is as big as it gets. Maybe this is as big as it needs to be.

Maybe Louisville City FC never moves up to Major League Soccer. Maybe its upward mobility ends with its third-tier league achieving second-tier status.

And maybe that’s enough. Minor-league status has not prevented the home team from building a passionate fan base that brings its own percussion section. It has not prevented ownership from gaining traction toward a soccer-specific stadium. It has not inhibited the team’s competitive success nor the entertainment value of a gameday experience that attracted a record crowd of 10,062 to Louisville Slugger Field Saturday night for a scoreless tie.

There’s not much wrong with that niche.

Mid-sized cities are constantly striving to raise their profile through sports franchises, often with ill-advised deals that become a burden on already-strapped taxpayers. Yet while the difference between major-league and minor-league can be stark in some sports – does any local fan ever lose sleep over the fate of the Louisville Bats? – such gradations are less significant in American soccer.

Sometime this summer, the U.S. Soccer Federation is expected to determine whether Louisville City’s United Soccer League has earned the right to replace the North American Soccer League as the second-tier of the domestic pro game. For Louisville City chairman Wayne Estopinal, though, that potential promotion would only formalize what he already believes.

“The USL is strong,” Estopinal said before Saturday’s match against FC Cincinnati. “Anybody can beat anybody else any night of the week. I respect what the NASL is doing. I know some of the owners. They’ve approached me if there’s any interest. (But) Why would I leave a league that I think is stronger?”

Estopinal is realist enough to recognize that Louisville is a longshot at MLS expansion unless that league’s growth jumps from steady to geometric. Despite the lofty engagement level of a fan base still in its second season, larger markets than Louisville can draw from more corporate customers and tap into more disposable income. The startling support FC Cincinnati has generated as a startup franchise is a reminder that the competition for MLS status, already keen, is only intensifying.

Yet Estopinal and his partners would have been naïve to buy a team with a financial model predicated on being promoted to the big-time, and they stand to make a decent buck as a USL franchise if they can succeed in getting a place of their own built.

“We have a brand here,” Estopinal said. “But we don’t have an identity yet. And I think with the stadium and a training ground, we will start to develop an identity at the pro level and at the youth soccer level that will reach out into the state, out into southern Indiana.

“With our prime demographic growing into years of families and spending and disposable income and extracurricular activities, this team’s going to really prosper.”

At present, Estopinal said, Louisville City FC continues to operate at a deficit, with investors spending about $1.5 million annually to balance the budget. Because the team does not share in concession revenue at Slugger Field, its income is derived primarily through ticket sales and team merchandise.

“We need to move toward a model that is more sustainable,” Estopinal said. “We’re doing everything we can with expenses. That isn’t the answer. We’ve got to have more revenue streams.”

Short-term, Estopinal said the city has held discussions with the Bats about stadium upgrades that could be conditioned on a renegotiated sublease for Louisville City FC. Longer-term, he is awaiting the city’s feasibility study on a soccer stadium that might be doable by the end of the decade.

"I think we can be a very successful USL franchise," he said. "In this sport, success is measured in a number of ways. For me, it’s really important that we’re competitive. It’s important that we’re engaged with the community and it’s really important that it’s not a financial burden on our owners.

"We don’t have to all get wealthy from this. The goal is that it’s sustainable. For us to be a really strong USL franchise is laying the foundation for future discussions about an MLS opportunity."

If that future is distant, so be it.

Tim Sullivan can be reached at (502) 582-4650, tsullivan@courier-journal.com or @TimSullivan714 on Twitter.