GRAND RAPIDS, MI — West Michigan’s new MLS Next Pro soccer team officially has a name: Athletic Club Grand Rapids.
The team’s name, which will be shortened to AC Grand Rapids on jerseys and other gear, was announced Saturday during an event at Calder Plaza in downtown Grand Rapids. AC Grand Rapids’ colors are blue, black and gold.
“This, in the evolution of putting the club together, is obviously a big step, because now it gives you something to not just recognize, but rally around and begin to build on,” said David Van Andel, who co-owns the team alongside Dan DeVos and members of their respective families.
AC Grand Rapids is expected to launch in spring 2027 in conjunction with the opening of Amway Stadium, where the team will play its home games.
The 8,500-seat stadium is under construction adjacent to the David D. Hunting YMCA on Lake Michigan Drive NW in downtown Grand Rapids. The $175 million publicly owned stadium is being financed through taxpayer dollars and private donations.
Saturday’s announcement marks a significant milestone in the push to bring pro soccer to Grand Rapids, an idea that was floated in 2016.
Announcements about the hiring of the team’s coach and general manager are expected “over the next year or so,” Van Andel said.
In December, Van Andel and DeVos announced they were bringing an MLS Next Pro expansion team to Grand Rapids. The league has 29 teams and describes itself as the “top development league for professional men’s soccer in the United States and Canada.”
For the team’s name, Van Andel and his colleagues kept it simple.
Many soccer teams incorporate “football club” or “athletic club” into their names, Van Andel said. He said he and his colleagues chose “athletic club” because it’s “a little less used,” and that Grand Rapids was included to identify the team’s home city.
“There were dozens of names that we were considering, but we always came back to having Grand Rapids in the name,” Van Andel said. “As we went through the process, it just became clearer, and in some ways easier, if we kept it simple. And even though Athletic Club is technically the full name, just putting an AC on that and making sure Grand Rapids stands out was the primary focus.”
He declined to say what other names were under consideration.
Van Andel and his family are the primary owners of AC Grand Rapids, with various roles held by his sons Jesse, Aaron, Kyle and Christian. DeVos, whose son Cole will play a key leadership role in the team, holds a minority ownership stake in AC Grand Rapids.
The AC Grand Rapids crest was designed by Matthew Wolff, who has also created logos for the New York City Football Club and the Chicago Fire Football Club, according to his website. He also led “a full brand refresh” for the Minnesota Twins in 2022, his website says.
The team’s colors scheme of blue, gold and black was deliberate, Van Andel said.
“The blue represents water, and it represents, for us, the river running through the city,” he said. The top of the team’s crest is marked by curving lines designed to evoke “waves or ripples of the river.”
“That’s how we paid homage, not just in the color, but also in the design of the shield, to the Grand River,” Van Andel said.
The addition of gold and black create a “very stately look,” he said.
“We believe that color combination will age well,” he said. “You could pick timely colors of today, but in 10 years, they may not look so nice. Whereas this color combo, we think will age very, very well.”
The idea of bringing professional soccer to Grand Rapids dates back nearly a decade.
Building a soccer stadium and recruiting a professional team to play there was a recommendation included in a 2016 study by the firm CSL. The study, commissioned by private development firm Grand Action, looked at strategies to make Grand Rapids a more desirable destination for visitors, new businesses and future residents.
The idea gained traction in 2020, when Grand Action relaunched as Grand Action 2.0. The group, which is now co-chaired by Carol Van Andel, Dick DeVos and Tom Welch, has led the push to build Amway Stadium.
Van Andel said he’s pleased that the goal of bringing pro soccer to Grand Rapids is on the cusp of coming to fruition. Saturday’s announcement represents one more piece of the puzzle needed to launch a new sports franchise, he said.
“The knowledge that Grand Rapids will have its own professional club, coming to a brand new, beautiful stadium right in the downtown, in the heart of the city, having all of these things now start to begin to become real — I think that now all of a sudden gets people excited,” he said.
AC Grand Rapids’ 2027 season is expected to include 28 games, half of which would be played at Amway Stadium. Other cities with MLS Next Pro teams include Atlanta, Georgia; Chattanooga, Tennessee; Orlando, Florida; and St. Louis, Missouri.