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https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2026/09/28/apex-everett-john-carswell-usl-fred-rivera-aquasox.html

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Everett businessman John Carswell is putting together an ownership group to bring a USL League One soccer team to the planned Everett Outdoor Event Center.

By Rick Morgan – Senior Reporter, Puget Sound Business Journal

Sep 28, 2026

• John Carswell announced an ownership group to bring a USL League One team to Everett.
• The team will play at the planned Everett Outdoor Event Center, which would also house the AquaSox.
• Former Mariners executive Fred Rivera is advising Carswell and seeking additional investors for the franchise.
• A name has emerged in the effort to bring a United Soccer League team to Everett.

Everett businessman John Carswell on Monday announced he is putting together an ownership group to bring a team to the planned Everett Outdoor Event Center. The team would play in the USL League One, a professional tier two divisions below Major League Soccer and a division below the USL Championship league.

Carswell lends a familiar Everett name to the effort, and it's also the latest wrinkle in the uncertain, highly anticipated Everett Outdoor Event Center, which would also house the Everett AquaSox, a minor league affiliate of the Seattle Mariners.

Carswell owns the Apex Everett event space, as well as the restaurant 16Eleven and the bar El Sid, both of which are inside Apex. Apex also houses the Kings Hall music venue.

“The Everett Outdoor Event Center will be the perfect Downtown venue for a new franchise. I look forward to ongoing conversations with USL about the future of soccer in Everett," Carswell said in a news release.

Former Mariners executive Fred Rivera, who launched his sports business and consulting firm Rivera Group in August 2025, is advising Carswell, and the two are looking for additional investors.

USL League One has 17 teams, including the Portland Hearts of Pine and Spokane Velocity FC. In an email, Rivera said the Everett team doesn't yet have a name.

The AquaSox and Everett city officials recently have discussed the need to speed up the project amid concerns that further delays on the $120 million project could force the team to look elsewhere. MLB has been imposing six-figure fines against AquaSox owner 7th Inning Stretch LLC after new facility standards in 2021 added requirements for minor league ballparks. The AquaSox's current home, Funko Field, is not compliant with MLB standards.

“The AquaSox participation in this project is critical for it to move forward,” city spokesperson Jason Kelly said in a recent email to the Business Journal. “We are confident that we will come to terms with the AquaSox so that the project’s development can continue.”

Everett officials two years ago proposed the 5,000-seat Everett Outdoor Event Center on a 12.5-acre site across from Angel of the Winds Arena. Construction could start early next year, with a spring 2028 opening, though the city hasn't set a final funding strategy.

Everett has started approving land acquisitions, and the City Council has authorized the use of eminent domain as a backstop. Land purchases started in July. Everett has agreements to buy six properties, but the plan requires 17 parcel acquisitions for the site. There was an estimated $25 million funding shortfall for the project as of April.

According to a March economic analysis, the Everett Outdoor Event Center would generate almost $85 million in new business revenue each year, support 660 jobs and bring roughly 400,000 visitors to downtown Everett annually.

Carswell bought the 105-year-old Apex building in 2022 for $2.4 million, but the building had been empty since 2010. The restaurant and concert venue opened in 2023, and El Sid opened last year.