DETROIT – Detroit City FC announced on Friday a new club ticketing initiative that will serve as the club’s most significant investment yet in youth soccer in Detroit.

During the upcoming USL Championship and USL W League seasons, the club will adopt a $1 fee on single-match tickets and selected group offerings for all home matches this season at Keyworth Stadium. Season and Flex Pack packages – which can also be purchased through the club website – will also be included in the initiative at $1 per package.

Funds generated will go to the club’s non-profit arm, the Detroit Sporting Coalition, which runs Detroit City FC City Youth.

The new initiative has been inspired in part by the Aspen Institute’s Project Play, a project which develops, applies and shares knowledge that builds healthy communities through sports. Le Rouge’s introduction of the initiative is likely the first time in American professional sports history that a professional team has introduced a ticket fee dedicated to supporting youth sports. In 2022, DCFC sold more than 75,000 individual tickets and ticket packages throughout 26 home matches.

“We are committed to DCFC match days being the most affordable, accessible, and inclusive pro sporting event in Detroit, so we don’t take lightly asking our supporters to cover any new costs,”  said Sean Mann, Co-Founder & CEO of Detroit City FC. “But it is equally important that we apply those same values to City Youth, and this struck us as an ideal means to do so. Through this new mechanism, everyone entering Keyworth will directly invest in growing our sport among youth in our community. And that means a lot to us as an organization.”

Further incentive for the decision, Mann added, is as of this season DCFC fans and supporters will see an overall reduction in online ticket fees, even with the introduction of the new $1 youth soccer investment. Added costs are not applied – but donations will be welcome – to tickets purchased in person at the Detroit City FC Club Shop in Capitol Park at 1216 Griswold in downtown Detroit.

Detroit City FC City Youth has nearly doubled in size every year since its founding in 2019; today, almost 300 boys and girls are participating in the program, primarily from the cities of Detroit and Hamtramck. The club projects strong growth to continue, and since the teams operate under a “pay what you can afford” model, demand for scholarship support will also increase.