In early 2013 Chris Jones was in a Nashville bar with a group of soccer-minded acquaintances wondering out loud how to start a club. "How do we do this? What do we charge per year?" Jones asked over a couple of drinks.

The local team, the Nashville Metros, had just folded and Jones, who had approached the club to run their marketing efforts but received no response, wanted to make sure that the city's growing love of soccer would not wane.