Starfire Sports is a multi-purpose stadium and sporting facility in

Tukwila, Washington Tukwila ( ) is a suburban city in King County, Washington, United States, located immediately to the south of Seattle. The population was 21,798 at the 2020 census. Tukwila is a community of communities, with residents of many diverse origin ...

, United States. It is located on the banks of the Green River, just south of

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...

. The stadium is operated by the

nonprofit corporation A nonprofit corporation is any legal entity which has been incorporated under the law of its jurisdiction for purposes other than making profits for its owners or shareholders. Depending on the laws of the jurisdiction, a nonprofit corporation may ...

Starfire Sports and is home to several soccer and rugby teams. At the time of its opening, CEO Chris Slatt claimed it was "the largest synthetic-turf soccer complex in the U.S." The

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

team

Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club was established on November 13, 2007, and began ...

has offices and training facilities at the complex, and stages

Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in that country. The 2023 U.S. Op ...

matches at the main stadium. Their affiliate team,

Tacoma Defiance Tacoma Defiance, formerly Seattle Sounders FC 2, is an American professional soccer team based in Tacoma, Washington, U.S. that competes in the MLS Next Pro, the third tier of the national soccer pyramid, as the reserve team of Seattle Sounder ...

, played at Starfire from 2015 to 2017 and return from 2022. The Seattle franchise of

Major League Rugby Major League Rugby (MLR or USMLR) is a professional rugby union competition and the top-level championship for clubs in North America. In the 2022 season it was contested by thirteen teams: twelve from the United States and one from Canada. Off ...

, the

Seattle Seawolves The Seattle Seawolves are an American professional rugby union team based in Tukwila, Washington. The team was founded in 2017 and competes in Major League Rugby (MLR), the top-level rugby union competition in the United States that began play ...

, began play at Starfire Sports in spring 2018.

History

The site was formerly

Fort Dent Fort Dent is a historic fort and present-day park in Tukwila, Washington. History Fort Dent was a blockhouse built on the orders of Territorial Governor, Isaac Stevens, in approximately 1860. It was located southeast of the confluence of the ...

Park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are green spaces set aside for recreation inside towns and cities. ...

, operated by

King County King County is located in the U.S. state of Washington. The population was 2,269,675 in the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Washington, and the 13th-most populous in the United States. The county seat is Seattle, also the st ...

. In addition to the existing grass soccer fields, the park included a

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

pitch and softball fields in the areas now occupied by artificial-surface soccer fields."Cricket team makes a pitch to save the pitch"
''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'', April 11, 2003 Severe budget cuts in 2002 led the county to schedule the closing of this park, among others, at the end of the year; however, parks located within

municipal A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

boundaries were offered to those cities. That offer sparked the formation of Starfire Sports by Slatt, Steve Beck, and Mark Bickham, who negotiated a 40-year

lease A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user (referred to as the ''lessee'') to pay the owner (referred to as the ''lessor'') for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial ...

with Tukwila to allow them to build and operate the complex. This would relieve the city of an estimated $500,000 in annual

maintenance Maintenance may refer to: Biological science * Maintenance of an organism * Maintenance respiration Non-technical maintenance * Alimony, also called ''maintenance'' in British English * Champerty and maintenance, two related legal doct ...

costs which would likely have caused it to refuse the county’s offer had Starfire not stepped in. Starfire plans to cover operating and maintenance costs through user fees and

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

banners and hopes to retire the $10 million construction costs over the course of several years. New construction included four lighted outdoor soccer fields with FieldTurf, including the stadium with its 2000-seat grandstand, along with the indoor facility. Beginning in summer 2004, English

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

powerhouse

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

offered training at Starfire as part of their Soccer Schools program. This came to an end in December 2007. In the late 2000s, the complex was proposed as the site of a larger 28,000-seat venue that would host a

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...

expansion team. Starfire was instead chosen as the training grounds for the expansion team awarded to

. The city of Tukwila still maintains a wooded part of the site as a public park. An expansion was unanimously approved by city leaders in a public hearing at the beginning of 2008 for the offices and training facilities of

International rugby

Facilities

Starfire features fields for indoor and outdoor

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

, and occasionally

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

games, as well as a 4,500-seat soccer stadium previously used by the USL

Seattle Sounders Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club was established on November 13, 2007, and began ...

and

Seattle Reign FC OL Reign is an American professional women's soccer team based in Seattle, Washington. Founded by Bill and Teresa Predmore in 2012 as Seattle Reign FC, it was one of eight inaugural members of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). In 2020, ...

of the

NWSL The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league at the top of the United States league system. It is owned by the teams and, until 2020, was under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federatio ...

and now used by the

for

US Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in that country. The 2023 U.S. Op ...

matches,

Seattle Sounders FC 2 Tacoma Defiance, formerly Seattle Sounders FC 2, is an American professional soccer team based in Tacoma, Washington, U.S. that competes in the MLS Next Pro, the third tier of the national soccer pyramid, as the reserve team of Seattle Sounders ...

of the

United Soccer League United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues currently organized are the ...

, Seattle Sounders Women of the W-League, and

. It was also the home of Hibernian and Caledonian F.C. and

FK Pacific FK Pacific was an American soccer team, founded in 2003. The team participated in the Pacific Coast Soccer League (PCSL), a recognised Division III league in the American Soccer Pyramid which features teams from western Canada and the Pacific Nort ...

of the

Pacific Coast Soccer League The Pacific Coast Soccer League is an amateur soccer league, currently featuring teams from British Columbia. In the past clubs from Washington and Oregon have competed. PCSL is considered to be British Columbia's premier summer league. The ...

. Additionally, the complex hosts the annual All Nations Cup. In 2004, the stadium field became only the eighth American artificial-surface pitch to earn "recommended" status by

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

and was thereby sanctioned for international play."Starfire Sports receives FIFA nod"
''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'', September 29, 2004 The complex has an indoor facility which has two

indoor soccer Indoor soccer or arena soccer (known internationally as indoor football, fast football, or showball) is five-a-side version of minifootball, derived from association football and adapted to be played in walled hardcourt indoor arena. Indoor s ...

FieldTurf fields. It also hosts administrative offices, a Mad Pizza restaurant, and a game room for children. The expansion undertaken by the complex in 2008 also included new fields along with a workout and fitness area for the Sounders FC, as well as offices for the coaching and technical staff. To retain its community-based programs and accessibility, these areas and the fields have some public access.

References

External links

* {{Coord, 47, 28, 11.11, N, 122, 14, 54, W, type:landmark_scale:2000, display=title Soccer venues in Washington (state) Buildings and structures in King County, Washington Tacoma Stars (2003) Rugby union stadiums in the United States Major League Rugby stadiums Seattle Seawolves OL Reign Former National Women's Soccer League stadiums 2005 establishments in Washington (state) Sports venues completed in 2005 USL Championship stadiums