Arizona's only pro soccer team is taking a new name and moving its games from a baseball stadium in the West Valley to a new soccer-only stadium in the East Valley.
The new owners of the renamed Phoenix Rising Football Club, formerly Arizona United FC, announced the moves at a news conference Monday.
They place the team in heart of the Valley's youth soccer base and position Phoenix Rising for ownership's long-term goal -- a Major League Soccer franchise.
"It's important to recognize we need to walk before we can run," said Berke Bakay, majority owner of Phoenix Rising.
The 5,000-seat, uncovered stadium would be built for soccer only on tribal land, near the northeast corner of McClintock Drive and the Loop 202 in Scottsdale. The "pop-up" stadium could be a precursor of an MLS stadium, which would have to be covered.
The privately financed stadium would be ready for the team's new season next March. The land is held by a private developer on the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community.
Arizona United played at Peoria's spring training stadium last year and at Scottsdale Stadium the year before on fields configured for baseball.
The spring training schedules at those stadiums prevented the soccer team from playing home games during cooler weather in March and April, Bakay said. That won't be a problem at the new stadium.
The team competes in the United Soccer League, the third division of U.S. professional soccer.
Phoenix Rising will also be sponsoring major Arizona Youth Soccer Association tournaments.