- July 15, 2025
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The best aspect of sports fandom is having something, or someone, to root for. Those stakes are getting cranked up for soccer fans in Lakewood Ranch.
The Sarasota Paradise soccer team, which plays at Premier Sports Campus, announced in February that it will move from US League 2 up to US League 1 next year, thus becoming the first professional soccer team in Lakewood Ranch.
However, there’s more to the Paradise’s ascension than meets the eye.
The USL announced earlier this year that it will be adding another league — US Division One — for the 2027-28 season. Included in that addition is a promotion and relegation system similar to the best soccer leagues in the world.
That means the Paradise could have the chance to be promoted from USL 1 — which will be the third and lowest tier of USL pro soccer — to USL Championship (tier two) and eventually USL Division One, which is defined by the U.S. Soccer Federation as the highest level of professional soccer in the United States.
I’m an ardent sports fan who can find a rooting interest in almost any sport. Soccer makes that more of a challenge.
I didn’t grow up playing or watching the sport, but I found myself glued to the TV this past summer during the UEFA Euro 2024 tournament and the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup simply because there were stakes attached and each match mattered.
At a lesser level, that’s looking to be the future for the Paradise.
With promotion and relegation on the line, every match could be important to the team’s future.
Playing for promotion won’t happen until 2027, but the Paradise squad will be stepping up its game-day experience next year nonetheless.
This summer has served as a test run for the Paradise’s viability at the professional level.
The club, founded in 2023 by Swedish entrepreneur Marcus Walfridson, played its first two seasons at Sarasota High School and averaged 500 fans per game.
Since moving to Premier Sports Campus this year, the team has averaged 1,300 fans per game.
“It’s about finding where to go and hanging out in a new venue,” Walfridson said of moving his team in preparation of the move to USL 1 next year. “It’s also about exposing people who are around here, which is more of our demographic. There’s younger families here and it’s close and easy to get to from everywhere. So we’re super happy to be here and I think moving here this year was important.”
The game-day experience at Premier includes a family-friendly, pre-game atmosphere that includes a bounce house, food trucks and cornhole. Inside the gates, fans have access to a beer garden, a concession stand and a variety of seating options.
Walfridson said ticket prices will increase next year, but the fan experience will also be elevated.
Some of those additions include speakers throughout the stadium, group-event hospitality, and live entertainment.
The biggest difference will be the players on the field.
Walfridson said he expects just three to four players to remain with the team next season due to the increased competition level.
There have been some vital lessons learned this season, too. The Paradise had to delay its match against Weston FC on June 28 by 30 minutes due to standing water on the field.
Not used to dealing with the issue, groundskeepers eventually found a solution by using leaf blowers to disperse water to the sidelines.
“Those are things they’ve never had to do because they’ve never had a professional team here," Walfridson said. "But it’s been good to find that out so we can fix those mistakes. Next year, we won't have ESPN waiting on us for half an hour.”
The Paradise players have proven they’re ready to move up to USL 1. The team is 7-1-1, trailing St. Petersburg FC for first place in the South Florida Division of USL 2 standings because of goal differential.
Fans will have one last chance to watch the Paradise at Premier this season as the regular season concludes on July 12 with a match against FC Miami City.
