Murfreesboro Mayor Shane McFarland joins a group of 22 business and community leaders in serving on a Nashville Organizing Committee seeking to bring a Major League Soccer team to the Music City.
"As a strong supporter of soccer in Middle Tennessee, I am honored to join the MLS organizing committee as it works to attract a professional team to Nashville," said Mayor Shane McFarland. "Helping promote a major league franchise is a worthwhile endeavor because it is beneficial to economic development and tourism for the entire Middle Tennessee Region."
The City of Murfreesboro and the Murfreesboro Parks & Recreation Department was recently awarded a $250,000 grant from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) Local Parks and Recreation Fund. The funds will be used to help finance phase two of the new Jordan Farm Soccer practice facility with six regulation size fields serving about 2,000 players off Cherry Lane and Leanna Rd. For more information on the Jordan Soccer fields, watch YouTube video at https://youtu.be/Vw-GxFSspC4.
The Jordan Soccer practice fields are located west of the Richard Siegel Soccer Complex which opened in 2005. The 15-field soccer complex is one of the largest in the southeast. Murfreesboro annually hosts numerous soccer tournaments, including the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association (TSSAA), which contribute to the economic impact and growth of the community.
Organized by Bill Hagerty, managing director of Hagerty Peterson & Co., and Will Alexander, senior director at Hall Capital, the Nashville MLS Organizing Committee stated in an announcement that the committee will draw on its members' collective expertise to help position Nashville as a frontrunner in the competition for one of four franchises in the MLS expansion.
The Nashville MLS Organizing Committee members include:
• Gov. Phil Bredesen (Chairman, Silicon Ranch Corporation)
• Larry Brown (CEO, Boys Scouts of Middle Tennessee)
• Agenia Clark (CEO, Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee)
• Sen. Bill Frist (Partner, Cressey & Co.)
• Gary Garfield (Chairman & CEO, Bridgestone Americas)
• Sean Henry (President & CEO, Nashville Predators)
• John Huie (Co-Head, CAA Nashville)
• Milton Johnson (Chairman & CEO, HCA)
• Ken Levitan (President, Vector Management)
• Rob McCabe (Chairman, Pinnacle Financial Partners)
• Mayor Shane McFarland (Mayor, City of Murfreesboro)
• José Muñoz (Chairman, Nissan North America)
• Colin Reed (Chairman & CEO, Ryman Hospitality Properties)
• Ralph Schulz (President & CEO, Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce)
• Butch Spyridon (President, Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp)
• Barry Stowe (Chairman & CEO, Jackson National Life Insurance Co.)
• Steve Underwood (President & CEO, Tennessee Titans)
• David Williams (Vice Chancellor and Athletics Director, Vanderbilt University)
• Uzi Yemin (Chairman & CEO, Delek US Holdings)
• Todd Vasos (CEO, Dollar General)
• Bill Hagerty (Organizer)
• Will Alexander (Organizer)
