Dear Mr. Edwards,

A little more than two years ago, you stood in the concourse at Chukchansi Park in Downtown Fresno and helped us welcome a brand new USL franchise to our great city. Soccer fans all over the Central Valley were overjoyed knowing that we were joining one of the fastest-growing, premier soccer leagues in the world. In the two years since that announcement, our city has embraced the new team, and many residents have become steadfast, highly loyal fans. While our ticket sales might not have matched some of the most successful clubs in the USL like New Mexico, Indianapolis, and Cincinnati, we have still produced a respectable attendance for a second-year team in our league and for a city of our size.

Many of Fresno FC’s fans are highly invested in the team, and we have fans that regularly travel from as far away as Minnesota and Japan to watch the Foxes play. The team has become an extremely important part in the lives of many Valley residents. It has inspired three fans to create the Fox Trot Podcast, which captures their love for the team, the city the Foxes call home, and the USL Western Conference. It has helped one of those podcasters through the loss of a father and the loneliness of separation and depression.

The team has also become an important inspiration to our younger fans, and many of Fresno FC’s players have become role models for the Valley’s soccer youth. These younger soccer fans, many of whom aspire to also be on a professional team one day, look forward to watching their favorite players on the pitch at every match. Most of these youth were heartbroken when they learned that there might not be a team to root for at all next season. Mr. Edwards, we know you are a businessperson, but we also ask you to consider all the lives that will be negatively impacted by moving Fresno FC to another market.

We also understand that the team’s financial numbers have not been exactly what Mr. Beshoff had hoped they would be. Even more importantly, we know that the ownership group has had a difficult time building a stadium, and that the City of Fresno probably hasn’t been as helpful as they could have been in finding a location for it. However, we also ask you to look at the short time frame that has transpired since the team was announced and began play, as well as the relatively small amount of marketing that has occurred in the last two seasons, and ask yourself, “is granting permission for a move really a fair course of action, as well as a smart precedent to set for other ownership groups?” We also ask you to look at the plan to move the team, and ask yourself, “will moving the team to a significantly smaller market really produce better a result?”

We, as Fresno FC fans, are willing to help the USL and the franchise ownership in any way we can that will keep the team in Fresno. We have already drafted letters to the mayor of the City of Fresno and to individual council members, letting them know that we expect more action from them. However, most people in Fresno and the Valley feel blindsided by this decision, and we ask you to offer us more time to get a proper stadium location chosen before making a rash decision like allowing the team to move or completely shut down.

Sincerely,

Fresno FC Fans and Residents of the Valley