The Mesa City Council voted unanimously to approve the formation of the Palo District on Wednesday in an attempt to bring an MLS and NWSL team to Mesa.
The Palo District will be what’s referred to as a “theme park district” located on the old 80-acre Fiesta Mall site. Demolition of the old mall began in 2023, and the site located near Southern Avenue and Alma School Road has been vacant since 2019.
Mesa Mayor Mark Freeman told 12News that the city is in pursuit of both a Major League Soccer team and a National Women’s Soccer League team.
“The Phoenix metropolitan area is a great place for it, and we’re able and willing to court them,” Mayor Mark Freeman said in an interview with 12News after the council meeting. “MLS, women’s soccer… and there could be other sports venues as well.”
The development agreement shows the expected district will feature restaurants, retail, lodging, offices, residences and “a multi-use stadium that could include soccer.”
Freeman’s comments come after former Mesa Mayor John Giles told KTAR earlier this year the city has started to look seriously into the possibility of bringing an MLS and NWSL team to the area.
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Mesa would be one of the smallest cities to house an MLS team at just more than 500,000 residents, however it is larger than Cincinnati which has just more than 300,000 residents. The Ohio city was granted an MLS expansion team in 2018 with FC Cincinnati beginning play in 2019.
The league currently has 30 teams, with 27 clubs in the United States and three in Canada. In the current format, each team plays 34 games (with 17 at home and 17 on the road).
The MLS regular season currently spans from February to October (with the MLS Cup Final being played in December), but MLS owners voted earlier this month to flip the league’s schedule to the more traditional European calendar.
Starting in 2027, the regular season will begin in mid-July and conclude the following April, with the playoffs in May.
Nearly 2/3 of the regular season will be played between the middle of July and the middle of December, with a winter break from mid-December until early February.
Earlier this year, Giles confirmed Mesa would need to build either a climate-controlled stadium featuring a roof or a domed stadium because of the Valley’s hot summer temperatures, but the schedule change could allow for an outdoor or open-air stadium.
The NWSL currently has 14 teams (all of the clubs are located in the United States), four are affiliated with MLS teams and two with men’s USL teams. Boston and Denver are set to join the NWSL in 2026.
In the league’s current format, the regular season runs from March through November before the playoffs and championship are also played in November. Each club plays 26 games during the regular season, including playing each other team once at home and once on the road.
Mesa City Council quickly approves deal
The Mesa City Council approved the formation of the Palo District during a 12-minute meeting without any residents in attendance.
The site will receive special tax breaks through a state law. By being classified as a theme park district, the board of directors of the district will be able to issue revenue bonds that will be paid off via revenue generated from the project. The district will also be able to levy a sales tax on business activity in the district to help fund the project.
The land is currently owned by Verde Investments, the real estate firm owned by the wealthiest individual in Arizona, Ernest Garcia II. Garcia has an estimated net worth of $23.1 billion and acquired his wealth as the founder of DriveTime, a used car retailer, and as the largest shareholder in Carvana, an online used vehicle platform.
According to the development agreement, Verde Investments will sell the land to a new owner, Palo District LLC, managed by Vicki Mayo.
Verde Investments and Palo District LLC approached the city with the request of the formation of a theme park district, the developer agreement shows.