 | |
| Founded | 2024 |
|---|---|
| Ground |
|
| Owners | Brad Stith, Steve Patterson, David Wali and Bill Taylor |
| Head coach | Nate Miller |
| League |
|
| Website | acboise |
Athletic Club Boise is a professionalsoccer club based inGarden City, Idaho. It plans to field a men's team inUSL League One and a women's team in theUSL Super League, in the third and first tiers of theUnited States league system, respectively. The club will play its home games at a newsoccer-specific stadium at Les Bois Park, a formerrace track. The club, owned by Brad Stith, Steve Patterson, David Wali and Bill Taylor, was announced by USL on October 30, 2024.
Boise was named a potential market for aUnited Soccer League team in the 2010s amid several friendlies and other matches that showed local interest. Jeff Eiseman, the owner of the minor-leagueBoise Hawks baseball team, stated that negotiations had been underway for several years with the league but never established franchise rights with the USL.[1] Afriendly match betweenLa Liga clubAthletic Bilbao andLiga MX clubTijuana in July 2015 drew an attendance of 21,948 atAlbertsons Stadium, the football stadium used by theBoise State Broncos.[2] A 2016USL Championship match betweenPortland Timbers 2 and theSwope Park Rangers was watched by a sold-out crowd of 4,352 spectators atRocky Mountain High School inMeridian, Idaho.[3]
The "Boise Sports Park" proposal, which never came to fruition, was to build a multi-use baseball and soccer stadium for the Boise Hawks and a new USL team was announced in 2017.[4] The stadium near downtown Boise would have had a capacity of 7,000 to 8,000 for soccer matches and use a turf pitch.[1] The Boise Hawks' ownership group, Agon Sports & Entertainment, announced in January 2019 that it had signed a franchise agreement with USL to field a USL Championship team in Boise once the stadium was completed.[5] The stadium was planned to be completed by 2021 if funding from a public development corporation was in place.[6] The original proposed site for the Boise Sports Park drew opposition from local residents and was replaced by a new location in the West End neighborhood, but a voter-approved ordinance to require a citywide election on any sports stadium with public funding and financing issues led to the project being shelved in December 2019.[4][7]
USL officially announced the expansion team under the working name Boise Pro Soccer on October 30, 2024. The ownership group included formerNational Basketball Association executive Brad Stith, real estate developer David Wali, formerU.S. Soccer Federation executive Bill Taylor, and stadium developer Steve Patterson.[8][9] FormerU.S. national team goalkeeper and commentatorKasey Keller joined the ownership group in July 2025.[10]
Nate Miller was announced as head coach in October 2025.[11]
Athletic Club Boise was revealed as the team's name on June 27, 2025. The club's crest includes a lightning bolt shaped like aPeregrine falcon to represent local raptor conservation organizations. Its shape references the geography of theTreasure Valley, where Boise is located, and includes a star to represent thestar garnet, Idaho's state gemstone. The club also uses several elements that are inspired by the city's Basque heritage, including a dark green named "Basque green" and the name, a reference toAthletic Club Bilbao.[12][13]
The teams plan to play at asoccer-specific stadium atExpo Idaho, the county fairgrounds ofAda County, near the Boise suburb ofGarden City. The stadium would incorporate the existinggrandstand of the former Les Boishorse racingtrack and have 6,225 seats under the county government's development proposal.[14][15][16] Boise Pro Soccer was awarded a 30-year lease by the county government on October 30, 2024.[9] The lease agreement was finalized in February 2025 and construction is scheduled to be completed by 2026. The preliminary design includes the option to expand the stadium to 11,000 seats.[17]
