Rochester New York FC, the MLS Next Pro club co-owned by Leicester City star Jamie Vardy, has announced it has ceased operations.
The club had a long and storied history under its previous iteration, the Rochester Rhinos. But that team went on hiatus in 2017 until it was reborn under new ownership in 2021.
That ownership included Vardy, who said at the time: “I’ve been looking at opportunities in the United States for a while, but there was something about Rochester and the Rhinos that just felt right.”
After being rebranded as Rochester New York FC, the club began play in MLS Next Pro in 2022 — the only team in the third-tier league not to be affiliated with a MLS franchise.
As it turned out, that would be the team’s one and only year of existence.
UPDATE on Rochester New York FC and MLS NEXT Pro: pic.twitter.com/uvlkS6W9n1
— MLS NEXT Pro (@MLSNEXTPRO) March 10, 2023
“While our first year was fraught with challenges, we nonetheless persevered and qualified for the playoffs,” the club said in a statement. “As we began the offseason it became apparent that to stay competitive, we would need a significantly greater investment in many aspects of the club.
“Despite increased attendance, including the addition of nearly 600 temporary seats at our last match, the unfortunate reality is the current infrastructure coupled with other challenges resulted in no path to sustainability.
“We were in advanced discussions with an ownership group to acquire a majority interest in RNYFC. However, the purchasing group decided not to proceed earlier this week as we were moving to close. This left us with no time and no choice but to decline fielding a team in 2023.”
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