Park Cities investor to lead USL franchise Atletico Dallas, slated to start in 2027
As professional soccer has continued to kick its way into the Dallas sports landscape, Matt Valentine wants to help accelerate its growth.
The Park Cities entrepreneur is a former player and lifelong fan of the sport who has translated that passion into team ownership with Atletico Dallas, a franchise in the United Soccer League set to begin play in 2027.
That’s one year after the next World Cup, when Dallas will be an operational hub and Arlington will be a primary venue. Trying to capitalize on that momentum with a local expansion franchise is not coincidental.
“It has been a long process. Just being an avid sports junkie and following soccer, it’s always been a dream to stay involved in the sport somehow,” Valentine said. “There’s a unique opportunity here. I just jumped in with both feet.”
Valentine was introduced to the possibility of USL team ownership in 2023 while on a college recruiting visit with his son Reid, a former Highland Park standout who now plays for USL League One club Texoma FC.
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At first, Valentine hoped to buy the existing Las Vegas Lights franchise and relocate it to Dallas, but the league objected, so he pivoted to expansion. Most of the investors in the new franchise are from the Park Cities.
“We have the opportunity to create everything from scratch,” Valentine said. “I felt that we could be intentional and thoughtful about how we started this thing.”
The nascent team revealed its branding this spring, with Valentine and longtime Dallas radio executive Sam Morton as the primary executives.
Venues and logistical details are still being worked out. One plan includes a training ground and team headquarters on 41 acres in Garland that would include additional fields to house a youth program, as well as soccer-themed commercial and residential components to a walkable development.
After FC Dallas of Major League Soccer moved from the Cotton Bowl to Frisco in 2005, Valentine said it left a void. Enter the USL, a second-tier pro league consisting of 24 teams with aggressive growth plans.
“There’s a community of people in Dallas who are very into soccer who would like a team closer to the city,” Valentine said. “The demographics of Dallas continue to evolve and shift. There’s clearly an appetite for what we’re doing.”
Diversity will be a driving force in the organization, Valentine said, with a large bilingual presence in the front office and a stadium experience that embraces traditions from Europe and Latin America.
“We’re going to try and offer something that’s a bit different,” he said. “We’re building a community asset. We’re trying to make the game more accessible to parts of the community that haven’t had access to higher-level soccer.”
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