Plans have officially been made for key leadership positions regarding the new MLS NEXT Pro team coming to Huntsville next year in a partnership with Nashville Soccer Club of the MLS. It’s been announced that former founding CEO of Downtown Huntsville, Inc (DHI) Chad Emerson will serve as the Managing Director of Business Operations for the MLS NEXT Pro club that will play its games in Joe Davis stadium once renovations are complete.

Nashville Soccer Club CEO Ian Ayre will serve as the club’s President. Ayre said it was crucial to find someone with knowledge of the local market in a statement about the club’s hiring of Emerson.

“I am pleased to have found somebody with Chad’s local experience to lead our business efforts for our NEXT Pro team,” said Ian Ayre, CEO of Nashville SC and President of Huntsville NEXT Pro. “As we saw during the building of Nashville Soccer Club, having key people who know and understand the local market are crucial in shaping the club and the business to fit with the city. I feel confident that Chad and the team we assemble can build something unique and fitting for the City of Huntsville.”

Emerson is definitely familiar with Huntsville’s market as he played a crucial part of reimagining the downtown area into the cultural commercial center it is today. During his nine year tenure as CEO, DHI won several awards including multiple International Downtown Association awards for placemaking and unique downtown projects. Before his time with DHI, he served as Director of City Development for the city of Montgomery.

“The Huntsville success story is built on a great quality of life and incredible collaboration,” said Emerson. “Thanks to the vision and leadership of the City of Huntsville and Nashville SC, we’re excited to bring MLS NEXT Pro to Huntsville as a new quality of life amenity and a fantastic opportunity to collaborate with our North Alabama communities.”

In an interview with Huntsville Business Journal, Emerson highlighted the novelty of soccer in Huntsville along with the experience and success of Nashville Soccer Club when discussing this newest opportunity.

“What’s cool about it is that it’s a brand new team in an area that doesn’t have soccer but it’s directly integrated with Nashville Soccer Club. Being connected with their history and past successes is great for the club and great for Huntsville,” he said.

“Huntsville is super excited about another professional sports option. We’d like to become one of the premiere quality of life amenities for people who live in and visit Huntsville. With the World Cup coming to the United States in 2026, we’re positioning ourselves to capitalize on the excitement,” he continued.

Emerson and Ayre will seek to recreate the same type of success that Ayre has been able to produce since becoming CEO of Nashville SC in 2018. The former CEO of Liverpool Football Club and English Premier League CEO of the Year has helped Nashville SC reach the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs in every season and achieve a top-five average attendance among all MLS teams in its first year at GEODIS Park, the largest soccer-specific stadium in the U.S. and Canada.

Nashville will control operations at Joe Davis Stadium, a multi-purpose, 6,000-seat venue originally built in 1985 as the home of a minor-league baseball team, the Huntsville Stars. The Stars moved to Biloxi, Mississippi, in 2014 and the stadium will reopen in May 2023 after a 14-month, $27.4 million renovation.

MLS NEXT Pro completes the integrated player pathway from MLS NEXT through to MLS first teams and allows young players and experienced professionals the opportunity to develop and showcase their talents while competing for an MLS NEXT Pro championship.

In an interview with The Tennessean, Ayre explained that unlike most clubs with MLS affiliates, Huntsville’s club will have it’s own separate identity from Nashville SC.

“It will be its own team, with its own identity and its own colors,” Ayre said. “We’ll recruit heavily just for that initially and then we’ll top that roster — the roster is 25 (players), so the top will be players from our roster who need minutes or are coming back from injuries and then at the bottom, the academy. That creates a natural flow.”

Nashville SC and the City of Huntsville will be announcing more information regarding the team’s identity, brand and schedule in the coming months. For more information on Huntsville’s MLS NEXT Pro Team, visit www.HuntsvilleNextProSoccer.com and follow the club on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

Featured image provided by DHI.