After years of hard work, dedication, sweat and tears, Nashville Soccer Club is finally home.
Fans and players alike had the chance to take in the spectacle of GEODIS Park for the first time at an open training session for Season Ticket Members on Tuesday. They’ll all return to the stadium in just a few weeks for the club’s home opener on May 1 against the Philadelphia Union.
For CEO Ian Ayre, it was the culmination of a lot of work by a lot of people.
“When I got here in 2018, this was some lines on a page,” Ayre said. “Here we are in the press conference room for the first time ever with fans in the stadium and players on the field. It’s like a sound check for May 1 to me, getting those final touches. Great testament to so many people that delivered this whole thing across the board. It really is epic.”
The state-of-the-art venue, which is the largest soccer-specific stadium in the U.S. and Canada with 30,000 seats, represents a transformational shift for a club that has never had a permanent home until now.
The core of the team that has been with the club since its Major League Soccer debut in 2020 will be able to see the team’s full MLS journey to reach this point. Head Coach Gary Smith says that the atmosphere created on May 1 will be unforgettable, especially after so many matches on the road to start the season.
“The guys are really pumped to get home after this long road trip,” Smith said. “Looking at the three years for the core of this group now, they’ve been in that rented accommodation. Now to be able to represent the club and the city in our own stadium with a full house is something very special. I think it’s a memory that, for whoever is here on that day, will be remembered for a long time.”
In the club’s temporary home of Nissan Stadium, the team only lost twice in two seasons and went unbeaten at home in 2021. General Manager Mike Jacobs says his players, even if they’re new to the club, are excited to continue that form in the club’s new home.
“Some have been here three years, others have been here three months,” Jacobs said. “But they all want to be a part of a new franchise and the chance to open this stadium. It’s a palace. When you see something like this, the chance to build off last season when we were one of seven teams in the history of the league to go the whole year undefeated at home, it’s exciting to think now having our own building and what that means.”
Ayre says the club’s new home will be more than a building and a pitch. It will be a spiritual home to the fans that bring the noise and passion every matchday, and a place that will create the lasting impressions for all who attend.
“We’ve built that place to create memories for fans,” Ayre said. “And that just lifts the club even higher than we’ve been so far.”
Season Ticket Memberships for Nashville SC’s first season in GEODIS Park are still available now. Click here to learn more.
