Who is the Colorado Rapids’ USL Pro affiliate for 2015? The Charlotte Independence. That’s the answer to a question that’s lingered ever since it was announced that the MLS Reserve League would discontinue at season’s end.

Rapids president Tim Hinchey said the deal still needs MLS and USL Pro’s approval, but is all but official. The partnership deal is for two years, with a mutual option for a third, both sides said.

The back story behind how the deal came together can be traced back to the Charlotte Bobcats of the NBA.

“I spent two years in this (Charlotte) market, my son was born here, so I know the market very well,” Hinchey said. “It’s a major-league market, fantastic soccer community.”

Hinchey and Jim McPhilliamy, president of the Charlotte Independence, worked together a few years ago in the Bobcats’ front office.

“We’ve been kind of like Frick and Frack,” McPhilliamy said. He described Hinchey as a “raw sales guy” and himself as more of a “data analytics guy.”

McPhilliamy is also president of the Charlotte Hounds of Major League Lacrosse. When the opportunity came around for him to buy the USL Pro rights from the Charlotte Eagles, McPhilliamy said he leaned on his old friend for advice since his soccer knowledge was limited.

“It just kind of grew organically from there,” McPhilliamy said.

McPhilliamy’s group rebranded the USL Pro club as the Charlotte Independence, and the Eagles are moving down to the Premier Development League.

With all MLS clubs required to either launch their own USL Pro team or find an affiliate by the start of 2015, many Colorado soccer supporters saw the expansion Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC as a natural fit for the Rapids. But Hinchey and McPhilliamy had a head start, working toward the Charlotte deal for nearly a year now — prior to the December 2013 announcement of Colorado Springs’ USL Pro franchise.

“We were contacted by a number of different markets and clubs, from all over the country really, some that were very intriguing, some that were certainly closer,” Hinchey said. “But ultimately, rather than proximity, what was most important was to have a club that allowed us to dictate the technical side of the business.”

Most USL Pro clubs already have their technical director, general manager and coaches in place, but with the Independence, Colorado has a chance to have more influence.

“We wanted to go to a club where we were going to be able to control that, so really our ethos as a club — our focus, our priorities as a club in terms of developing young players — is intact,” Hinchey said.

Brian Crookham, the Rapids’ senior director of soccer development, will head the effort as the Charlotte Independence interim technical director, Hinchey said. The Rapids, he added, will soon begin a coaching search.

“We’re going to find people who are Rapids people,” Hinchey said. “We’re going to invest in those positions, so they’ll be our positions. And we’ll have four to five full-time players.”

The Rapids will loan players to the Independence, where they will get regular game action for as many as 30 games a year, rather than the sporadic schedule of the MLS Reserves League.

“This relationship is not solely about winning USL games,” McPhilliamy said. “It’s about developing talent for the Rapids organization as well.”

A bonus in the equation is Colorado’s alliance with the Carolina Rapids, a youth soccer club in the Charlotte area that develops young players through the same philosophy as the Rapids. It also provides a direct pipeline into the Rapids youth academy, through which amateur players can become Homegrown players.

Hinchey said the Independence’s investment in stadium improvements was also a selling point. The USL Pro club will play its home games in American Legion Memorial Stadium, which was built in 1936 and requires upgrades to widen the field beyond the current maximum of 60 yards, which McPhilliamy said is too narrow for soccer. It should be complete by the start of the 2015 season, he added.

This season, the Charlotte Eagles attendance at Dickson Field was less than 1,000 fans per game. The Hounds lacrosse team, which played at American Legion Memorial Stadium, averaged about 3,800, McPhilliamy said.

“We could get upwards of 5,000 on a nice day,” he added.

The Independence’s business plan calls for about 4,000 to 5,000 fans per game, and they hope to follow the business model of other successful USL Pro teams, Sacramento Republic FC and Orlando City SC, targeting both soccer families and the 18-35 demographic.

“It kind of checked all the boxes,” Hinchey said. “And we also have our Carolina Rapids here, so that was kind of a bonus.”

Daniel Boniface: 303-954-1104, dboniface@denverpost.com or twitter.com/danielboniface