APRIL FOOLS: Pro football returns to Lakewood Ranch

After watching Major League Football struggle and eventually cancel its planned 2016 season and training camp, it appeared professional football and Lakewood Ranch just weren't a good match.

Major League Football was supposed to use Premier Sports Campus at Lakewood Ranch for its training camp until a supposed $20 million stock purchase and financial backing from Asian Global Capital didn't materialize to save the league.

Well, professional football is back in Lakewood Ranch, this time in a big way.

Big League Football, which hopes to operate as a training ground for future NFL players, has laid out plans for a 2018 season, starting in April, 2018, along with extended training camps.

Even bigger is that Lakewood Ranch has been selected for a new franchise, the Gators. A planned $69 million, domed stadium, which will seat 25,000 fans, will be built by the season opener at April 23, 2018. Once again, Premier Sports Campus at Lakewood Ranch is the target.

Once again, funding will come from the Far East, but this time, China. A conglomerate from Shanghai, which operates in the United States under Revenue and Economic X-factor, Inc., (REX) has put up the $200 million line of credit and will own the Lakewood Ranch team and stadium, which will be privately funded.

REX Stadium, though, will do more than host football.

"Basically, half the people leave the area in the summer," said REX Vice President Fuller Backe. "That is going to change with the building of this beautiful arena. We are going to host concerts, shows, Monster Truck competitions, exhibits and conventions. No matter what the humidity, it's going to be climate-controlled nirvana inside."

The Gators will host two exhibitions along with six regular season games at Lakewood Ranch. The league will operate with seven other teams in San Diego, Portland, Indianapolis, Austin, Texas, Raleigh, N.C., Hattiesburg, Miss., and Scranton, Pa.

Whether or not the new league makes its starting gate, the REX Stadium will be built, starting with the groundbreaking on May 1.

"We are not tying our success to football," Backe said. "We feel the entertainment component of the stadium will be successful."

Area businessmen called the move bold and "clairvoyant."

"First, I really believe we are starting to see the NFL fall off its lofty perch," said Feld Gowell, head of Lakewood Ranch Economic Development Corp. "People don't want to spend $350 for a couple to watch a game and have three beers. We can put some really nice uniforms on these second tier players and have $1 beer nights. Do you think anyone is going to care who's in the uniforms?"

Gowell said, along those lines, musical acts are demanding higher prices than ever. He sees concerts as being a cash cow for REX as well as generating revenue for the area's hotels and restaurants.

Meanwhile, the stadium will be built next to the current outdoor stadium. It would cut the existing number of soccer fields in half, along with a larger parking lot gobbling up the rest, but more fields will be built on additional property. During youth soccer events, Rex Stadium will be open for access to the restrooms.

One benefit starting in 2019 is the domed stadium can host Thunder by the Bay when inclement weather strikes.

Lakewood Ranch spokesperson Cher Leader said it will put the area on the map. "Like, it's going to grody to the max, for sure," Leader said.