Tacoma Defiance will play at Starfire in 2024

The Tacoma Defiance will continue to play their home games at Tukwila's Starfire Sports Complex in 2024, Seattle Sounders GM Craig Waibel confirmed on Tuesday. There had been some consideration given to the possibility of moving games to the new Longacres training facility, but that was not deemed to be a feasible option for this season. As in recent seasons, proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to the Rave Foundation.

The Sounders have been looking for a permanent home for the Defiance ever since they were effectively forced to move out of Tacoma’s Cheney Stadium following the 2021 season, when Major League Baseball tightened rules about stadiums being used for other activities. The Defiance – under the Sounders 2 moniker – had previously played at Starfire from 2015-2017.

In moving to Tacoma in 2018, the hope had been that a permanent home had been found. The Sounders forged a partnership with the Tacoma Rainiers with the express goal of building a soccer-specific stadium by 2020. But those plans were eventually killed when civic budgets tightened up during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Sounders also briefly explored the possibility of partnering with Brett Sports and Entertainment and moving to Spokane, where a stadium was being built. But Brett Sports' bid ultimately lost out to the group that would found Spokane Velocity of USL League One.

The uncertain longterm future of where Defiance will play also explains why the Sounders have resisted a name change.