20K fans back bid for pro women’s soccer team at Fiesta Mall site

• A fan initiative to bring a National Women’s Soccer League team to Mesa, Arizona, has gathered nearly 20,000 signatures.
• Developer Vicki Mayo plans to build a 25,000-seat enclosed soccer stadium at the former Fiesta Mall site, now called the Palo District.
• The Palo District project also includes a women’s sports wellness campus, an AI venture studio, and two large hotels.

Nearly 20,000 people signed a fan initiative to attract a National Women’s Soccer League team to Mesa’s former Fiesta Mall site, its developer said.

Now known as the Palo District, the 80-acre site along Alma School Road and Southern Avenue is poised for a major transformation that its owner, Vicki Mayo, hopes will be a hub for women’s sports.

Mayo is aiming to attract Arizona’s first National Women’s Soccer League by building a 25,000-seat enclosed soccer stadium that is planned to break ground in the summer.

Her company, Sunny Day Sports, an investment firm, launched an initiative in January called the Founding Fan to showcase that the development would be a “perfect” location for a professional women’s soccer team.

She said the initial goal was to get 10,000 founding fans in 10 days, but exceeded that by reaching over 15,000 signups in that time frame. Now that number is close to 20,000 fans, she said.

The aim is to show the NWSL that metro Phoenix has a fan base and interest to sustain a team.

The 2026 NWSL season launched in March, debuting two new teams and expanding from 14 to 16 teams.

In 2028, two new teams are expected to debut, including the already announced 17th franchise in Atlanta.

NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman, in her 2026 Kickoff Address, stated the 18th team would be awarded later this year, USAToday reported on March 13.  

The league would not “comment on specific markets or pending bids,” said Jennifer Levine, the vice president of public relations and communications for the NWSL.

She said the league was engaging in a “deliberate, rolling expansion process with a number of world-class potential ownership groups as we look toward the future of the league.”

Mayo said she was “not at liberty to disclose” if she’s had conversations with the league to pitch Arizona and the Palo District.

Are professional soccer leagues interested in Arizona?

The state doesn’t have any top-level professional soccer leagues, neither men’s nor women’s teams, but several amateur or minor leagues exist. That includes the Phoenix Rising soccer team in the United Soccer League, a tier below MLS.

The men’s Major League Soccer organization has flirted with the possibility of coming to Arizona for years and most recently hinted it could land in Mesa at a different site. It also appears that the political will to welcome a soccer team is there, as city officials stated in 2024 that it had entertained conversations.

A women’s professional soccer team could see an easier pathway to landing in Arizona and is the focus of the Palo District, according to Mayo.

Several amateur or minor-league women’s soccer clubs have formed over the years. Most recently, the Women’s Premier Soccer League announced a new team would be based at the Peoria Sports Complex. Those teams are created both to build a fan base and to cultivate local talent.

Mayo wants to build on the state’s popularity of youth soccer and keep rising talent in the state.

The Arizona Soccer Association reported that “more than 55,000 boys and girls” are participating in 45-plus clubs throughout the state in 2026.

She said she wants women coming out of those youth programs to have an opportunity to play in Arizona.

“I want these girls that are top tier that want to play pro to be able to stay in their home state and play for their home team,” she said.

Women like Julie Ertz from Mesa, who went on to play in Chicago and Los Angeles. Ertz made 123 appearances with the women’s national team and was in the NWSL between the 2014 and 2023 seasons.

Several other women soccer players with Arizona backgrounds have gone on to play in the NWSL and on the national team.

Mayo said she hopes the planned 25,000-seat “fully enclosed, fully domed” stadium with air conditioning and a retractable grass pitch will be sufficient to attract a professional soccer team.

Details surrounding the financing of the project remained slim. The Mesa City Council in November approved the creation of a theme park district, which will provide a dedicated financing system and a board that will be in charge of that system. It was not immediately known when the board would gather for its first meeting.

What’s planned for the former Fiesta Mall site?

The Palo District is developing with a focus on women’s sports and health.  

It previously announced a women’s sports wellness campus in December as an anchor and “cornerstone” project that will be a $100 million capital investment in partnership with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona.

An AI venture studio, WaveX, backed by LG Electronics, will also be featured at the site.

Two massive hotels with a combined 600 rooms are also planned at the site. The flagship hotel will tie directly into the stadium, which will bring a “VIP” experience, she said. It will be a 4 to 4.5-star property, she said.

“We’re in active conversations with a number of leading hotel chains to see which brand we’re going to solidify on and bring on,” Mayo said.

Like this story? Get more East Valley news straight into your email inbox by signing up for our free weekly East Valley Newsletter, which comes out on Wednesdays.

Is there something under construction you’d like to tell us about or find out more about? Reporter Maritza Dominguez, who covers Mesa, Gilbert and Queen Creek, can be reached at maritza.dominguez@arizonarepublic.com or 480-271-0646. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @maritzacdom.