Buffalo Pro Soccer is an American professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

team based in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

. Founded in 2024, the team plans to compete in the

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the second tier of the United States soccer league system#Men's leagues, United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) a ...

and play its inaugural season at a site to be determined in 2027. A women's team will also compete in the

USL Super League The USL Super League (USLS), officially known as the Gainbridge Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional women's soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system, alongside the National Women's Socce ...

. Plans were announced in 2025 for the construction of

Queen City Field Queen City Field is a proposed multipurpose stadium in Buffalo, New York. Planned to be built on the site of the former Medaille Sports Complex, once completed, it will be home to the city's yet-to-be-named USL Championship and USL Super Leagu ...

to accommodate the team, but the project was scrapped over environmental concerns.

History

History of professional soccer in Buffalo

Several amateur teams from Buffalo have participated in the

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. It is the country's oldest ongoing national soccer competition. The competition was first held duri ...

. These teams include the Buffalo Corinthians ( 1913–14), Buffalo Hungarian SC ( 1928–29, 1939–40), Buffalo German American SC (

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

, 1939–40,

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

), Buffalo City GOP (

1941 The Correlates of War project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 3.49 million. However, the Uppsala Conflict Data Program estimates that the subsequent year, 1942, wa ...

), and Simon Pure SC (

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

). Buffalo previously had three professional outdoor soccer teams play within its city limits – the Buffalo White Eagles (1962, ECPSL), Buffalo Blazers (1976–1980, NSL), and

Buffalo Storm Buffalo Storm were an American professional soccer team. They played for one season (1984) in the United Soccer League, with home games at All-High Stadium. History The early 1980s were a lean and difficult time for professional outdoor soccer ...

(1984,

USL USL may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Underground Sound of Lisbon, a Portuguese dance music project * Urban Strawberry Lunch, a band from Liverpool Companies * United Spirits Limited, India * Former United States Lines shipping company C ...

). The city also hosted two professional indoor soccer teams – the

Buffalo Stallions The Buffalo Stallions were a soccer team based out of Buffalo, New York, that played in the Major Indoor Soccer League from 1979 to 1984. Their home arena was Buffalo Memorial Auditorium. It was the last professional club for which the Portu ...

(1979–1984,

MISL Major Indoor Soccer League has been the name of three different American professional indoor soccer leagues: *Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992), known in its final two seasons as the Major Soccer League *Major Indoor Soccer League (2001–2 ...

) and

Buffalo Blizzard The Buffalo Blizzard was a soccer club that existed from 1992 to 2001 in Buffalo, New York. History The team was originally owned by the Knox brothers who owned the Buffalo Sabres at the time, and additionally by the Riches who owned the minor l ...

(1992–2001, NPSL).

Buffalo Bulls The Buffalo Bulls are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University at Buffalo (UB) in Buffalo, New York. The Bulls compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I level as a member of Mid-Ame ...

men's soccer coach

John Astudillo John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second Ep ...

and former

coach

Sal DeRosa Salvatore "Sal" DeRosa (August 10, 1931 – March 2, 2014) was a naturalized American soccer coach best known for winning the 1970 North American Soccer League Championship with Rochester Lancers. DeRosa competed professionally in Naples, It ...

led an unsuccessful bid to have Buffalo host matches for the

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States w ...

Rich Stadium Highmark Stadium (also known colloquially as The Ralph) is a stadium in Orchard Park, New York, United States, in the Southtowns of the Buffalo metropolitan area. It is the home venue of the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). ...

. Real estate developer John McClutchy acquired the rights to a Buffalo

expansion franchise in 2019 with aspirations to play at

New Highmark Stadium Highmark Stadium (also referred to as New Highmark Stadium and colloquially as The Pit ) is an American football stadium under construction in Orchard Park (town), New York, Orchard Park, New York. It will replace the existing Highmark Stadium ...

, but he never founded a team.

Franchise and academy acquisition, 2024–2025

On March 28, 2024, former professional soccer player Peter Marlette Jr. and his newly formed Buffalo Pro Soccer club were awarded the rights to a

expansion franchise. Marlette Jr. also announced plans to found a women's team of the same name in the

. As general manager of

Union Omaha Union Omaha Soccer Club is an American professional association football, soccer team based in Omaha, Nebraska. Nicknamed the Owls, the team made its debut in USL League One (USL1) in 2020. In the clubs first five seasons, the Owls finished in ...

, Marlette Jr. led that club to

USL League One USL League One (USL1) is a professional men's association football, soccer league in the United States that had its inaugural season in 2019 USL League One season, 2019. The United States soccer league system, Division III league is operated ...

regular season championships in 2021 and 2023, and the playoff championship in 2021. Peter Marlette Jr. announced on February 6, 2025 that the club had acquired the

youth academy In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team if they show en ...

USL League Two USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States, forming part of the United States soccer league system. The league will featu ...

team

FC Buffalo FC Buffalo is an American soccer club based in Buffalo, New York, United States, with teams in men's and women's soccer. Founded in 2009, the men's team plays in the USL League Two, a national amateur league at the fourth tier of the Americ ...

, renaming it Buffalo Pro Soccer Academy.

Canisius Golden Griffins The Canisius University Golden Griffins are composed of 16 teams representing Canisius University in intercollegiate athletics. These teams include men's and women's basketball, cross country, track, lacrosse, soccer, and swimming and diving. Men ...

women's soccer coach Ryan Louis was named the academy's U-20 head coach on April 18, 2025.

D'Youville Saints D'Youville University (D'Youville or DYU) is a private university in Buffalo, New York. It was founded as D'Youville College in 1908 and named by the Grey Nuns after the Patron saint, patroness saint Marie-Marguerite d'Youville. As of fall 2022 D ...

men's soccer coach Sean Hallas was named the academy's U-19 and U-17 head coach on April 19, 2025.

Stadium selection and cancellation, 2025

Three potential stadium sites were considered – the former ''

Buffalo News ''The Buffalo News'' is the daily newspaper of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area, located in downtown Buffalo, New York. It was for decades the only paper fully owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway. On January 29, 2020, the ...

'' headquarters in downtown Buffalo, Father Conway Park in the Old First Ward, and the abandoned

Medaille Sports Complex Queen City Field is a proposed multipurpose stadium in Buffalo, New York. Planned to be built on the site of the former Medaille Sports Complex, once completed, it will be home to the city's yet-to-be-named USL Championship and USL Super Leagu ...

in the Lovejoy District. The ''Buffalo News'' site was preferred, which would have cost $40 million and required $20 million in public funding. Father Conway Park would have required

environmental remediation Environmental remediation is the cleanup of hazardous substances dealing with the removal, treatment and containment of pollution or contaminants from Natural environment, environmental media such as soil, groundwater, sediment. Remediation may be ...

, as it was built atop the former Ohio Street Basin that was filled with industrial waste. On April 11, 2025, Buffalo Pro Soccer held a

press conference A press conference, also called news conference or press briefing, is a media event in which notable individuals or organizations invite journalism, journalists to hear them speak and ask questions. Press conferences are often held by politicia ...

to announce that Medaille Sports Complex, now renamed

, would be expanded to a capacity of 7,600 with $10 million in private funding. It would have been expandable to a capacity of 15,000 should the team have earned promotion to

USL Division One USL Division One is the tentative name for a proposed professional men's soccer league in the highest level of the United States league system, alongside Major League Soccer. Organized by the United Soccer League (USL), it would supersede the ...

under the league's new

promotion and relegation Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

system. Politicians in attendance included former congressman

Brian Higgins Brian Michael Higgins (born October 6, 1959) is an American former politician who was the U.S. representative for , from 2005 until 2024. The district, numbered as the 27th district from 2005 to 2013 and as the 26th from 2013 to 2024, included ...

, State Sen. Sean Ryan, acting mayor Christopher Scanlon, Lovejoy District Councilor Bryan J. Bollman, and Erie County Legislator Lawrence Dupre. The venue would have utilized

modular construction Modular construction is a construction technique which involves the prefabrication of 2D panels or 3D volumetric structures in off-site factories and transportation to construction sites for assembly. This process has the potential to be superior ...

, featuring adjacent practice fields for the team and Buffalo Pro Soccer Academy.

Season ticket A season ticket, or season pass, is a ticket that grants privileges over a defined period of time. History The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' has illustrative quotations which show the term ''season ticket'' used in the United States in 18 ...

deposits were made available at $20 each, and 800 were purchased during their first weekend on sale. The stadium site was criticized due to its distance from downtown Buffalo and past environmental problems.

is two miles from downtown Buffalo, and was previously closed in 2021 due to

sulfur dioxide Sulfur dioxide (IUPAC-recommended spelling) or sulphur dioxide (traditional Commonwealth English) is the chemical compound with the formula . It is a colorless gas with a pungent smell that is responsible for the odor of burnt matches. It is r ...

emissions from the neighboring PVS Chemicals plant. Buffalo Pro Soccer announced on July 3, 2025 that the

project had been cancelled over environmental concerns, the team's inaugural season had been pushed back to 2027, and that the site selection process for their stadium had reopened.

Ownership and coaching search, 2025–present

Although the team's ownership group is private, $20 million was raised as of April 2025, with

owner Jon M. Williams and

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

player Reid Ferguson both named as investors. The team is currently searching for their league-required principal owner who has a minimum

net worth Net worth is the value of all the non-financial and financial assets owned by an individual or institution minus the value of all its outstanding liabilities. Financial assets minus outstanding liabilities equal net financial assets, so net w ...

of $30 million, and must purchase a 35% stake in the club. Peter Marlette Jr. revealed the club's head coach has been selected, and is described as, "a recently retired, remarkably famous"

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

player.

References

External links

Official website
{{Buffalo Sports USL Championship teams USL Super League teams Association football clubs established in 2024 Men's soccer clubs in New York (state) Sports in Buffalo, New York Women's soccer clubs in New York (state)