NISL Names Brian Roth Special Consultant to the Board of Directors

ATLANTA, GA  -  The National Indoor Soccer League has named long time pro soccer executive Brian Roth as Special Consultant to the NISL Board of Directors.

Roth brings over 15 years of pro soccer front office experience to the table, as he has served in multiple roles with pro indoor and outdoor teams since 2000, most recently as General Manager of the St. Louis Ambush of the Major Arena Soccer League from 2016-2020.

Prior to his GM position with the Ambush, he was the Assistant GM for the Ambush under Owner/GM Andrew Haines, who is currently on the NISL Executive Board of Directors. It was Haines and Roth that worked hard to revive indoor soccer in St. Louis by bringing back the Ambush in 2013.

“I’m excited to assist the NISL in anyway possible and I look forward to helping this league get started and grow things from the ground up,” Roth said. “It’s a reunion of sorts, getting to work with Andrew Haines again, so that’s one of the main reasons I jumped at this opportunity. We worked extremely well together with the Ambush and I expect more of the same with the NISL. We’re both very passionate at what we do and hopefully that will trickle down to the everyone else involved in the league.”

"It's great to be back working with Brian.  His passion and dedication to the indoor game is unmatched!  Brian was a huge part of the success of the Ambush when we brought the team back in 2013.  The NISL will lean on his knowledge of the indoor game as well as he experience building teams that are heavily involved in the community in an effort to support our member teams" said NISL Executive Board Member Andrew Haines.

Roth started his professional soccer career with the original St. Louis Ambush of the National Professional Soccer League during the 1999-2000 season, first as a full-time Intern, which led to a Sales/Marketing Executive position with the club.

After the Ambush ceased operations in June 2000, Roth went into his original field of Parks and Recreation and was the Director of Leagues/Fitness for the City of Perryville, MO and their $10 million Perry Park Center, a local community recreation center.

While working full-time in Perryville, MO, Roth also did “outside sales” for the St. Louis Steamers of the Major Indoor Soccer League from 2004-2006, when the team was owned by Michael Hetelson and played at the Enterprise Center (then the Savvis Center).

Roth then received a call from the Kansas City Wizards (now Sporting KC) of Major League Soccer in the summer of 2007, and he would join the club in their Sales Department as a Youth Soccer Sales Executive.

“I had always wanted to get back into Pro Soccer on a full-time basis and make career out of it, and with no team in sight in St. Louis, moving to KC and working for the Wizards was a great opportunity for me. For the three years I was with the franchise, we played our games in a minor league baseball stadium and it was truly a unique experience for everyone involved,” Roth explained.

While working for the Wizards, he met local KC businessman and soccer guru, Brian Budzinski, who owned and operated the KC Soccer Dome, an indoor soccer facility for many years that has been the official training facility of the original and current Kansas City Comets, the Kansas City Attack, and the KC Brigade/Command Arena Football teams.

Budzinski brought back the Comets in 2010 and lured Roth away from the Wizards to join his Comets Staff as Ticket Sales Manager, where he worked for three seasons.  Roth and the KC Comets Staff also operated the FC Kansas City team, who competed in the National Women's Soccer League from 2013-2017. FCKC had the honor of playing the very game in NWSL history on April 13, 2013 when they hosted Alex Morgan and the Portland Thorns, which drew a sellout crowd of 6,784 to Shawnee Mission District Stadium.

“I spent six great years in KC, but those three years with the Comets were the most fun I’ve had working in my pro soccer career. We were relevant in the KC Community, the team was good, and we were successful at the gate,” said Roth. “These NISL Teams must realize they have to be extremely community-oriented. If they’re willing to go out and do the work, go to community events every single weekend, and go out and present themselves in a very professional manner, they can be successful.”

ABOUT NATIONAL INDOOR SOCCER LEAGUE (NISL):
The National Indoor Soccer League was founded in January 2021 by a group of experienced sports team/league owners with over 40 years of ownership experience. NISL will kickoff the 2021/2022 season in late December 2021. The league will operate a Men's & Women's division with each member team playing in both division. Each NISL game night will include a double header, with fans being able to see both a Women's match as well as a Mens!