WakeMed Soccer Park is a

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 ...

complex in

Cary, North Carolina Cary is a town in Wake County, North Carolina, Wake, Chatham County, North Carolina, Chatham, and Durham County, North Carolina, Durham counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina and is part of the Raleigh, North Carolina, Raleigh-Cary, NC M ...

, United States. It consists of a purpose-built, soccer-specific main stadium named "First Horizon Stadium", two lighted practice

football pitch A football pitch or soccer field is the playing surface for the game of association football. Its dimensions and markings are defined by Law 1 of the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game, "The Field of Play". The pitch is ty ...

es, and four additional fields. The main stadium and the two lighted fields (2 & 3) are all

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

international regulation size (). The stadium seats 10,000, while Field 2 also has 1,000 permanent bleacher seats. The complex also sports a full-length cross-country course and houses the offices of Triangle Professional Soccer. Originally opened in 2002 as the home of the

Carolina Courage Carolina Courage was a professional soccer team that played in the Women's United Soccer Association. The team played at Fetzer Field on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus in 2001, and then at the soccer-specific SAS Stadium in Cary, North Carolina i ...

of the WUSA, WakeMed Soccer Park is now the home to

North Carolina FC North Carolina FC is an American professional association football, soccer team in Cary, North Carolina, a suburb of Raleigh, North Carolina, Raleigh, and member of the USL Championship. Founded in 2006, the team previously was named the Caro ...

of 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 the

North Carolina Courage The North Carolina Courage are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Cary, North Carolina, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It was founded on January 9, 2017, after Stephen Malik acqui ...

of the

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a women's professional Association football, soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system#Women's leagues, United States soccer league system (alongside the USL Supe ...

. The

North Carolina State Wolfpack The NC State Wolfpack is the nickname of the athletic teams representing North Carolina State University. The Wolfpack competes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I (NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subd ...

men's and

women's A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional uteruses ...

teams of the ACC play select matches there and the complex hosts tournaments such as the NCAA College Cup, the ACC Soccer Championships, and the NCHSAA high school state soccer finals.

Construction history

WakeMed Soccer Park opened in May 2002 as State Capital Soccer Park. The park is on that the

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

has leased to

Wake County Wake County, officially the County of Wake, is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, its population was 1,129,410, making it North Carolina's most populous county. From July 2005 to July 2006, Wake Count ...

. Money to build the soccer park came from $14.5 million in county-wide hotel room and prepared food and beverage taxes. The Town of Cary assumed responsibility for operations and maintenance in 2004 from

Capital Area Soccer League North Carolina FC Youth (NCFC Youth) is an American soccer club and eponymous league based in Raleigh, North Carolina, and serving the greater Research Triangle. It is the largest youth-to-professional soccer club in the country. Club NCFC Yout ...

. On January 26, 2006, the Town of Cary council amended its lease to allow it to sublet the property to Triangle Professional Soccer through the year 2011 for the exclusive promotion of professional soccer and lacrosse events at the complex.

Expansion

In November 2011, the Town of Cary kicked off a $6.3 million expansion project. The finished expansion added 3,000 permanent seats to the 7,000-seat stadium, 1,500 of the seats going to the north end zone and the other 1,500 to upper-level stands on the east side of the stadium. Also added on the east side were a new three-story building to provide restrooms, concessions, and access to the additional seating from the third floor. Team locker rooms were relocated to the ground level of the new structure to allow players direct access to the stadium from midfield and direct access from their team bus to the locker rooms.

Naming rights

SAS Institute SAS Institute (or SAS, pronounced "sass") is an American multinational developer of analytics and artificial intelligence software based in Cary, North Carolina. SAS develops and markets a suite of analytics software ( also called SAS), which ...

, a Cary-based software company, had naming rights to the complex through June 30, 2007, with the option to extend their naming rights for an additional three years. On September 27, 2007, the Town of Cary announced that SAS had not exercised their option on the naming rights and that WakeMed Health & Hospitals had purchased the naming rights to the complex for $300,000 per year. Effective January 1, 2008, the complex became known as "WakeMed Soccer Park". On March 31, 2017, it was announced that Sahlen Packing Company had acquired naming rights to the main stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park, thus becoming "Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park". Sahlen's paid $400,000 over 5 years for the rights, with $100,000 going to the town of Cary and the rest to the North Carolina Courage. On April 30, 2021, WakeMed renewed its agreement through 2023. On December 18, 2024, the main stadium naming rights were purchased by

First Horizon Bank First Horizon Corporation, formerly First Tennessee Bank, is a financial services company, founded in 1864, and based in Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis, Tennessee. Through its banking subsidiary First Horizon Bank, it provides financial services thr ...

, renaming the stadium as "First Horizon Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park".

Notable events

* 2002 US men's soccer team

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

Training Camp * 2002 Women's Nike Cup 1st Round * 2003 WUSA All-Star Game * 2003

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

Women's College Cup * 2003 ACC Soccer Championships * 2004 ACC Soccer Championships * 2004 NCAA Women's College Cup * 2005 ACC Soccer Championships * 2005 NCAA Men's College Cup * 2006

Rochester Rhinos Rochester Rhinos, formerly known as the Rochester Raging Rhinos, was an American soccer team based in Rochester, New York, United States. The club won the 1999 U.S. Open Cup, marking the only time a non-MLS team has won the U.S. Open Cup sinc ...

Spring Combine and Training Camp * 2006 US men's soccer team v.

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

* 2006 US men's soccer team

Training Camp * 2006

USL First Division The USL First Division (USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the second tier of the United States league system. It was organized by the United Soccer League as its premier league for men from 1996 to 2010, above the USL Second ...

All-Star Game (v.

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

) * 2006 US women's soccer team v.

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

* 2006

State Games of North Carolina The 'State Games of North Carolina'' (for sponsorship reasons known as thBODYARMORState Games) is an Olympic-style competition in North Carolina, and a member of thNational Congress of State Games The BODYARMOR State Games are the largest sports ...

(soccer events, ceremonies) * 2006 ACC Women's Soccer Championships * 2006

Women's College Cup * 2007

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

International Friendly * 2007 ACC Men's Soccer Championships * 2007 NCAA Men's College Cup * 2008 NCAA

Women's College Cup The NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship, sometimes known as the Women's College Cup, is an American College soccer in the United States, college soccer tournament conducted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and dete ...

* 2008

Major League Lacrosse Major League Lacrosse (MLL) was a men's field lacrosse league in the United States. The league's inaugural season was in 2001 Major League Lacrosse season, 2001. Teams played anywhere from ten to 16 games in a summertime regular season. This w ...

Rochester Rattlers Rochester may refer to: Places Settlements England *Rochester, Kent * Rochester, Northumberland United States * Rochester, Illinois * Rochester, Indiana * Rochester Township, Cedar County, Iowa ** Rochester, Iowa, an unincorporated co ...

vs.

Philadelphia Barrage The Philadelphia Barrage were a professional field lacrosse team that are based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and member of Major League Lacrosse. They were the Bridgeport Barrage from 2001 to 2003 at The Ballpark at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, C ...

* 2009 NCAA Men's College Cup * 2009

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

vs.

International Friendly * 2010 ACC Women's Soccer Championships * 2010 ACC Men's Soccer Championships * 2010 NCAA

* 2011 US women's soccer team v.

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

* 2011 US women's soccer team Training Camp * 2013

* 2014 US women's soccer team v.

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

* 2014 NCAA Men's College Cup * 2015 NACRA Sevens Regional Olympic Qualifier * 2015

Raleigh Flyers (AUDL) The Carolina Flyers (formerly the Raleigh Flyers) are a professional ultimate team based in Durham, North Carolina. The Flyers compete in the Ultimate Frisbee Association (UFA) as a member of the South Division. The team was founded in 2015. From ...

Southern Division Playoffs * 2016 Carolina RailHawks v.

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

* 2017 North Carolina FC v. Atlas CF * 2017 North Carolina FC v.

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club ( ; ) is a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. It competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Swansea have played their home matches at ...

* 2017 United States women's national soccer team v.

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

* 2018 United States men's national soccer team v.

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

2018 CONCACAF Women's Championship The 2018 CONCACAF Women's Championship was the 10th edition of the CONCACAF W Championship, CONCACAF Women's Championship (also known as the CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup or the CONCACAF Women's World Cup Qualifying Tournament), the quadrennial intern ...

Group A * 2018 NCAA

* 2019 North Carolina FC v.

Club Necaxa Impulsora del Deportivo Necaxa S.A. de C.V. (); often simply known as Club Necaxa, is a Mexican professional Association football, football club based in Aguascalientes (city), Aguascalientes. It competes in Liga MX, the top division of Mexican ...

2019 Women's International Champions Cup The 2019 International Champions Cup Women's Tournament was a tournament of friendly women's association football matches. It was the second edition of the Women's International Champions Cup and took place in Cary, North Carolina, United States ...

* 2019

NWSL Championship The NWSL Championship is the annual championship game of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the top-flight women's soccer league in the United States. It is the culmination of the NWSL playoffs, which is contested by the teams with the ...

* 2019 NCAA Men's College Cup (Georgetown University) * 2020 NCAA Men's College Cup (Marshall v. Indiana) * 2022

International Friendly * The Soccer Tournament 2023 *

2023 NCAA Division I Women's Lacrosse Championship The 2023 NCAA Division I Women's Lacrosse Championship was the 41st annual single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of Division I NCAA women's college lacrosse. The semifinal and championship rounds were played at WakeMed ...

semifinals and final *

The Soccer Tournament 2024 The Soccer Tournament 2024, also referred to as TST 2024, was the second annual edition of The Soccer Tournament. The tournament was held from 5–10 June 2024 in Cary, North Carolina. There were two tournaments, one each for men and women, with bo ...

The Soccer Tournament 2025 The Soccer Tournament 2025, also referred to as TST 2025, was the third annual edition of The Soccer Tournament. The tournament occurred from June 4-9 2025 in Cary, North Carolina Cary is a town in Wake County, North Carolina, Wake, Chatham C ...

Cross-country events

The grounds also host multiple high school cross-country races. Including dual meets, high school conference championships, Mid-East Region Championship, and the Nike Team Southeast National Regional meets. Th
course
starts and ends behind the practice fields and runs along the perimeter of the grounds. It is known to give personal bests even with a difficult hill which must be run twice. The course record for the 5k distance is 14:32.2 by Brodey Hasty at the 2016 Great American Cross Country Festival. In recent years it has held the Atlantic Coast Conference's conference championship.

References

External links

*
Live Field Closure/Status Information

Pictures tagged with sassoccerpark at Flickr

Travel Guide for Fans Visiting WakeMed Soccer Park
{{National Women's Soccer League stadiums Sports venues completed in 2002 Buildings and structures in Cary, North Carolina North Carolina FC North Carolina Courage NC State Wolfpack sports venues NC State Wolfpack men's soccer Rugby union stadiums in the United States Former Major League Lacrosse venues Soccer venues in North Carolina Sports in Raleigh-Durham Tourist attractions in Wake County, North Carolina 2002 establishments in North Carolina North American Soccer League (2011–2017) stadiums National Premier Soccer League stadiums Ultimate (sport) venues Sports complexes in the United States National Women's Soccer League stadiums Sports in Cary, North Carolina