An aerial rendering of the proposed Space Coast SC District in Melbourne, anchored by an 8,000-seat soccer-specific stadium. Rendering courtesy Kimley-Horn / Space Coast Pro Soccer.
MELBOURNE, Fla. — Professional soccer is coming to Florida’s Space Coast, and for the first time, the people behind the club have revealed where they intend to build it.
- Advertisement -
Space Coast Pro Soccer says it has secured the rights to a United Soccer League franchise and hopes to begin play in March 2028, anchored by a new soccer-specific stadium and a 53.8-acre mixed-use district in Melbourne, according to an announcement provided to The Space Coast Rocket. The project would sit directly across from Orlando Melbourne International Airport, along the NASA Boulevard and Hibiscus Boulevard corridor, which the club calls the heart of the Space Coast’s aerospace and defense economy and home to the global headquarters of L3Harris Technologies and a major Collins Aerospace operation.
According to the club, the centerpiece will be a soccer-specific, multi-purpose stadium seating 8,000 and expandable to 10,000. A dedicated training facility for the club’s planned men’s and women’s programs is also part of the plan.
A street-level rendering of the proposed stadium and its surrounding retail and dining plaza. Rendering courtesy Kimley-Horn / Space Coast Pro Soccer.
The stadium would anchor a surrounding district with roughly 60,000 square feet of leasable retail and food-and-beverage space, designed to draw activity on game days and the rest of the year. The club says the corridor’s built-in weekday workforce and airport visibility give the development a steady audience well beyond match days.
- Advertisement -
“A stadium changes the math for everything around it,” said Cassandra Hartford, owner of Reach Commercial Real Estate, the Melbourne brokerage leading commercial strategy and leasing for the district. “We’re building a district that gives Brevard residents somewhere to eat, shop and gather on game day and every other day. The demand for quality retail and restaurant space on this corridor is already here.”
An Orlando City pedigree
The ownership group is led by figures who helped build Orlando City SC. John Bonner partnered with founder Phil Rawlins to launch Orlando City in 2010 and helped carry the club from the USL to its Major League Soccer debut in 2015, when it played in front of 62,000 fans at the Citrus Bowl. Adrian Heath led Orlando City to two USL Championships across six seasons and, as a player, won two English league titles and the 1984 FA Cup with Everton.
The group also includes Tommy Bonner, who brings commercial and residential real estate and early-stage capital experience, alongside Chris Gallagher and Benn Brown, who the club says were also part of the team that built Orlando City.
“This is a chance to build something that outlasts all of us. A professional club with a strong community focus and a stadium of our own,” said John Bonner. “Our plan is to bring top-level soccer to a market some people say is too small. Space Coast is exactly the kind of community where we believe we can prove them wrong. Our goal is to create a community asset that the Space Coast can be proud of.”
A market the club says is already here
Space Coast Pro Soccer points to more than 8,000 players already registered across the region’s local leagues as a built-in base of players, families and fans before the club has kicked a ball.
A site plan for the proposed 53.8-acre district, showing the stadium, parking and surrounding development off the NASA and Hibiscus Boulevard corridor. Rendering courtesy Kimley-Horn / Space Coast Pro Soccer.
The club would enter as the USL restructures American soccer. In 2025, USL owners voted to adopt promotion and relegation across a three-tier professional pyramid, and the league has since confirmed USL Premier as its new Division One, sitting alongside MLS atop a structure that also includes the USL Championship and USL League One. The model is intended to let clubs in smaller markets earn their way up through results on the field rather than market size. The 2026 FIFA World Cup, hosted across the United States, Canada and Mexico, is expected to accelerate the sport’s growth nationwide.
Still early
The plans remain in development. The club says it is currently engaging with its major funding partners to enable the project, and a specific division for the future Space Coast team has not been firmly confirmed in public. Space Coast Soccer Club LLC has said it intends to field both men’s and women’s sides, with the women’s team to follow.
Parties interested in the development can reach the club at tombonner@spacecoastsc.com, or learn more at spacecoastprosoccer.com. Leasing inquiries are being handled by Reach Commercial Real Estate.
The Space Coast Rocket will continue to follow this story as it develops.
Renderings: Space Coast SC District, courtesy Kimley-Horn / Space Coast Pro Soccer.
