Tampa Bay Rowdies owner Bill Edwards is looking for additional investors for the USL club.
When presented with a reports indicating he was trying to sell the team, Edwards refuted them and said he was looking for additional investors for his team.
“We are looking to put together an ownership group and we have five or six groups talking to us right now,” Edwards told the Tampa Bay Times. “We are trying to take it to the next level, which is Major League Soccer. But it takes a lot of money to be in MLS.
“I don’t plan on walking away from anything. I’ve poured five years of my life into the Rowdies and look where they’ve come. Why would I walk away?”
Edwards, 72, has owned the Rowdies since 2013. He plans to renovate their current home of Al Lang Stadium in order to bring it up to MLS standards with the eye of getting into the league. Tampa was not named as a finalist for MLS expansion, but was in the initial bidding process.
He’s hoping additional investors can boost his chances at getting into the league.
“In order to be in MLS it takes an ownership group, so all we’re doing is trying to put together an ownership group,” Edwards said. “There’s been a high degree of interest from people who want to be part of the ownership group. I would still be involved no matter what league we are in. I’m not running away at all.”