TAMPA, Fla. — A new professional women's soccer team coming to Tampa Bay next year has finally announced its name.
After almost six months since the franchise announced its existence, the team took another big step in bringing world-class soccer to the local area.
Speaking during a brand reveal event Saturday afternoon in Tampa, officials announced that the team will be called Tampa Bay Sun Football Club.
The team name was chosen after the club hosted multiple sessions across the area inviting people to pitch their own suggestions.
Tampa Bay Sun FC's logo was also revealed, and that can be seen below.
Tampa Mayor Jane Castor was in attendance at the event to help reveal the team's crest. The new soccer team's colors were also revealed and will primarily be blue and yellow.
The Tampa Bay Sun will start competing in the USL Super League season in August of 2024 with teams expected to primarily play on Saturday nights.
Last month, the Hillsborough County School Board approved a partnership with the club to invest more than $4 million to expand and upgrade the waterfront stadium near Blake High School in downtown Tampa.
The stadium will be a temporary home for the team and will host home games for multiple seasons until the team moves to a permanent home.
The Tampa Bay-based team says it will continue to train daily at its Ybor City training facility.
The team is now accepting deposits for season tickets, which cost $24 per ticket. To sign up, click here.
Back in July, USF women's soccer head coach Denise Schilte-Brown was tabbed as the inaugural leader of the new club, with Sarasota-based Christina Unkel announced as the club's first president.
The new franchise will compete at the highest level of women's professional soccer in the U.S. and will be the Tampa Bay region's first top-tier women's pro sports team.
Once sanctioned by U.S. Soccer as a division one league, the USL Super League will be equivalent to other professional sports leagues across the world and will look to bring in international players who have competed in the FIFA Women's World Cup and Olympic Games.
Since the new league plans to play its season from fall through spring, all players will still be able to represent their national teams.
There will be 10 to 12 teams competing in the USL Super League with other confirmed host cities including Charlotte, North Carolina; Dallas/Fort Worth; Lexington, Kentucky; Phoenix; Spokane, Washington; Tucson, Arizona, and Washington, D.C. The additional franchises will be announced at a later date.
The Super League also has plans for five more franchises, pending stadium agreements, that won't be part of the original group. Those would be in Oakland, California; Chattanooga, Tennessee; Indianapolis; Jacksonville, Florida, and Madison, Wisconsin.
The new league said it hopes to close the “opportunity gap” between men’s and women’s professional soccer in the United States. There are more than 100 men’s pro teams in contrast to 12 women’s teams.
Schilte-Brown and the Tampa Bay Sun FC hope to establish a winning culture that has been replicated by other pro sports teams in the region, such as the Rays, Lightning, Buccaneers and Rowdies.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.