Triumph Playing a Role in Greenville's Expansion

Photo Courtesy of GE Vernova

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Triumph Playing a Role in Greenville's Expansion

Greenville, South Carolina, has become one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in America, and that’s not something they plan to stop anytime soon. And expanding a city means expanding the area around it, especially when said city is what the county is named after.

That’s something Greenville is now getting in on and something the city’s biggest soccer team is helping out with. A new stadium is being built in one of South Carolina’s newest, most ambitious, and one of its fastest growing areas. The Bridgeway Station in Mauldin is where they’ll be building the GE Vernona Park.

Stadiums today are rarely made for one purpose, and the GE Vernova Park is no exception. Its primary purpose will be to host the USL League One club Greenville Triumph. The third-tier team will finally have its own stadium and will no longer share its ground with the Furman Paladins football team.

But it will also be a year-round complex for all kinds of sports and entertainment, such as concerts, festivals, marching band competitions, and community events. With its location right in front of the Bridgeway Station plaza, it is in an extremely convenient location, as it’ll be right in front of the plaza’s restaurants, shops, and green spaces.  Friends and families can mingle and have fun both before and after games or events, which makes it possible to plan an entire day of memorable fun in the South Carolina sun.

The GE Vernova Park will also follow the European aesthetic of the Bridgeway Station that it is going for. The Triumph’s stadium is soon to feature grand columns, ornamental cornices, Italian-inspired towers, with expansive archways that’ll make for dramatic entrances, along with seamless walkability.

Along with it, the Greenville Triumph owners, one of whom is a former Brazilian soccer superstar and a former World Cup champion Ronaldoihno, hope it brings with it the kind of electric and passionate atmosphere you see for the sport. They want the atmosphere seen in both the European and South American continents, and the kind of crowds that are spectacles in themselves and can draw all sorts of new eyeballs to this brand-new team. 

But the overall goal for the relationship between the Greenville Pro Soccer, the City of Mauldin, the State of South Carolina, and Hughes Investments is to grow the Mauldin community and bring pride to that community. Ownership wants to do this in a way that fuels economic growth for both the large corporations and the small businesses around Mauldin. 

“From the beginning, we understood that being patient as the area grows would best serve the community and Upstate with a dynamic, new mixed-use development rather than an industrial park as originally planned,” said Phil Hughes, President and Founder of Hughes Investments, Inc. “The unique old-world architecture will be expressed in multiple buildings with retail, office, residential, institutional, entertainment, restaurants, and public parks connected to the Swamp Rabbit Trail. Our goal is to create a ‘sense of place’ that is fun for everyone.”

“The City of Mauldin is pleased to partner with Mr. Hughes in planning and collaboration of this development,” said Terry Merritt, Mayor.

“This new town project of BridgeWay Station will greatly serve many of the region’s untapped resources and demand. As well, it will and has already brought multiple new opportunities for indirect investment and development,” added Taft Matney, Mauldin City Council.

GE Vernona Park is only one very important part of Mauldin's expansion, an extension of the already established Bridgeway Station, the very key to putting Mauldin on the map.

With the Bridgeway Station being at the center of everything, it’s an ambitious project that the GE Vernova Park will be adding to. A little slice of Italy in the USA, like Rome, it isn’t being built in a day. As a matter of fact, the project took three years to complete from announcement. The idea was first revealed to the public in April 2021 and then opened to the public in April 2024, and it cost $150 million with mixed-use development.

The brand-new area is expansive and is meant to be for a very tight-knit community. Lots of different events are being hosted in the area, and the new arena will help out a ton. There are plenty of shops and restaurants, or even a massive outdoor area that you can spend all day in, not to mention a comedy club. There are more employment opportunities than just the entertainment and cultural venues, with there being spaces for offices as well. Someone could begin a long-term career while surrounded by this cultural enrichment. 

It’s not supposed to snow in South Carolina, one of the hottest states in the USA. But Greenville County started the year with snow piling up all around them at rates unseen. Nobody had expected this, and very little had been planned for it including those in charge of planning the construction of the GE Vernova Park. The ice and snowstorm, unsurprisingly, make it hard to build things. So the original opening date of May 9th, which is also when the Greenville Triumph would’ve played their first-ever game at their new stadium, has now been pushed back to June 10th.

The opening home matches of the season in March were already planned to be at Furman University stadium, which would likely take on the extra load due to the construction delay. A brief return to the Triumph’s old home ground, the Paladin Stadium, is also a possibility before jetting off to their new home ground.

“Once our team fully assessed the impact of the winter storms on our operational readiness, it became clear that moving our stadium opener to June 3 was the right decision,” Zach Prince, general manager of Greenville Triumph, said in the release. “Our construction team has done an outstanding job keeping the project on schedule, and this adjustment ensures we have the time to complete the venue’s operational outfitting to our exacting standards while maintaining our commitment to opening the stadium this season and delivering the exceptional experience our fans deserve.”

“We’re excited to bring our fans along on this journey,” Prince said in the release. “From watching the pitch take shape to seeing the scoreboard light up for the first time, we want our community to be part of every step as we build something special together.”

“We’re turning this into something even more special,” Prince said in the release. “Opening our stadium during World Cup week gives us a chance to celebrate soccer on the biggest stage while launching our own historic chapter at BridgeWay Station.”

GE Vernova Park is named after GE Vernova, which has been committed to expanding the Greenville area for years now. They’ve been creating jobs and increasing the revenue of the county since its very start.

“At GE Vernova, we believe in investing in the cities and communities that our employees call home,” said Scott Strazik, CEO of GE Vernova. “By supporting the Greenville Triumph and Greenville Liberty, we are strengthening our ties to the region, fostering local pride, and helping to create memorable experiences for our neighbors and families. Our commitment to the Upstate South Carolina area, including hiring over 500 people this year and even more planned for 2026, reflects our dedication to building a brighter future, both on and off the field.”

But to achieve those goals, they needed help from other investors, which is exactly what they found.  “We are thrilled to welcome GE Vernova as our naming rights sponsor,” said Wallace Cheves, chairman of Greenville Pro Soccer, the team ownership group. “Their leadership and investment in our community will help us elevate the fan experience and grow the sport of soccer across the Upstate. This relationship is a testament to the shared values of innovation, teamwork, and community that define both our organizations and the people we serve.”

 Hughes Investments, Inc., founded in 1991 by Phil Hughes to create lasting, high-quality spaces for tenants,

has been a major force in Greenville’s growth for over 30 years. The firm has helped shape downtown and manyrapidly expanding neighborhoods. Led by Chief Operating Officer Theresa Rowe and Vice Presidents Ryan Peiffer and Rivers Hughes, Hughes Investments develops office, retail, industrial, multifamily, medical, and mixed-use properties, with a focus on superior design, development, leasing, and property management.

Wasserman, which is a leading global sports, music, and entertainment company that provides marketing services to talent, brands, and, in this case, properties, is also heavily involved. Headquartered in Los Angeles, Wasserman’s presence spans 28 countries and more than 70 cities, adding Mauldin to a vibrant catalogue of cities across the world.

In the meantime, Triumph fans are counting down the days until the new venue makes its debut.