A group is trying to bring professional soccer to Akron, with play to potentially begin next year in the upstart NISA.

https://www.rubbercityfc.com/2018/03/10/professional-soccer-coming-to-akron/

 

A new organization is being formed to bring professional soccer to the Akron area. The Rubber City Football Club plans to hit the field in the spring of 2019. Founded by Team President Joshua Austin, the club is currently negotiating field use contracts to bring the game to the downtown area.

 

...

 

A percentage of the business will be available for community members in the future, allowing the community to take pride in ownership of their team.

 

The Rubber City Football Club plans to compete in the 1st division of the National Independent Soccer Association (NISA.) NISA is a new, 3rd tier professional league that plans to become a 1st division alternative to Major League Soccer.

 

Joshua Austin attended the University of Akron, and has worked as a professional musician, and most recently as a journalist for pop-culture website Mind Equals Blown and sports media site Cage Pages. Team Vice-president Tyler Novak is currently a masters student at the University of Akron, and an employee of Lockheed Martin. Novak will also act as the Head Scout for the team.

 

There's some skepticism in the soccer community that this group will be able to pull it off. Here's an interview with them:

http://midfieldpress.com/2018/03/12/rubber-city-fc-aims-to-join-nisa-in-2019/

I'm not trying to be a Debbie downer here, but the majority of attendance would probably be due to Stark and University of Akron. Summer attendance would be pretty bleak IMO. Although I wouldn't mind having a new FC in the Northeast. Akron just doesn't seem to be the right spot.