NASHVILLE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Just five days before Nashville Soccer Club opens its new home GEODIS Park, principal owner John Ingram announced that Nashville native and actor, producer and founder Reese Witherspoon, media and technology investor Jim Toth and Tennessee Titans All-Pro running back Derrick Henry have joined the team’s ownership group.
Witherspoon, Toth and Henry, who have joined as minority owners in the team, bring significant cache to a team that is already setting the tone for Major League Soccer success nationwide. GEODIS Park is the largest soccer specific stadium in the U.S. and Canada, with many features and attributes few other stadiums possess. The construction of the stadium is wrapping up after employing more than 6,000 people over the course of construction – 49% of which were women or people of color.
Witherspoon said, “As a Tennessee native, it is thrilling to see how much growth and development has come to our home state. One of the things that my whole family is most excited about is the Nashville Soccer Club! The opportunity to go as a family and watch a world class team compete has been such an incredible experience.” Witherspoon continued, “The team, the management and the players have worked so hard to build this amazing organization and community. So, I’m thrilled to announce that my husband, Jim Toth, and I have made an investment in the club and are now a part of the ownership group moving forward. On behalf of Jim and our children, we are thrilled to be a part of the NSC family!”
Derrick Henry joins the ownership group as the most recognizable sports name in Nashville at the moment. Henry becomes only the fourth NFL player in history to serve as an owner of an MLS team.
“As a kid growing up in Florida, I imagined being a professional sports owner and the opportunity to do that with a Major League Soccer club is truly a dream come true,” said Henry. “My investment in Nashville SC is way more than financial, it’s truly an investment in the city of Nashville. The chance to be part of a club like Nashville SC, especially after seeing what they are accomplishing in the community, was an opportunity I didn’t want to miss.”
“We meant it when we said we were doing this in Nashville, with Nashville and for Nashville,” said Ingram. “Having Derrick, Reese and Jim join our group signals our commitment to being a club that is going to do things at the highest level and with the best Nashville has to offer.”
The Boys in Gold will take the pitch at GEODIS Park for the first time on May 1. With all 30,000 seats sold for the inaugural match against Philadelphia Union, season tickets and single game tickets for the remainder of the season still remain available at https://www.nashvillesc.com/tickets/.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: Zach Hunt, zach@tsgnashville.com, 615.321.3110.
About Nashville SC
Nashville SC is a Major League Soccer club initially founded by local supporters in 2013 as an amateur soccer organization called Nashville Football Club. It officially became Nashville Soccer Club in 2016 when it earned a USL Championship club and as it began its bid to join Major League Soccer. On Dec. 20, 2017, Nashville SC became the 24th organization to be awarded an MLS club. In its inaugural MLS season, Nashville SC defeated expectations by becoming the second MLS expansion side to win and advance to the Conference Semifinals in the 2020 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs. Nashville SC returned to the 2021 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs in its sophomore season after becoming just the seventh team in MLS history to go unbeaten at home in a season. Nashville SC is set to move into GEODIS Park, the largest soccer-specific stadium in the United States and Canada at 30,000 seats, on May 1, 2022. For more information, visit NashvilleSC.com and follow the club at @NashvilleSC on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Spotify.
