Seattle’s female soccer team announced their move to Cheney stadium in Tacoma on January 30^th. The Reign have played at the Memorial Stadium in Seattle center since their 2014 season.

While this move will benefit the team, considering the new venue is a soccer specific stadium with a grass field, many Reign fans are disappointed. Some are saying that Tacoma is too far to go to watch games, others saying that the before fairly cheap ticket prices are going to be raised significantly. Though some others are welcoming the move.

Fans that live in Tacoma are proud to have to team in their backyard, and those that don’t, are ready to make the trip from Seattle to Cheney.

In addition to the Reign’s change in location, they also gained some new shareholders, dropped Seattle out of their name and signed a new sponsorship contract. So, the former Seattle Reign that played and practiced at Seattle Memorial Stadium with Microsoft as a sponsor is now the Reign FC that practice and play at Cheney Stadium in Tacoma with Zulily on their fronts.

Memorial Stadium was not the most ideal for the team and had many more issues that money could fix. This move will be much better for the team whether all the fans are on board for it or not. As for the name change, this lies behind a motive to make the team a more “global” brand, saying that the team will manage fine without the name, like world soccer powers Juventus, Arsenal and Celtic. The owner is also hoping for the Reign to be able to make long – term growth and exposure.