Cashman Field has been described as the perfect home for soccer thanks, in part, to its square shape and roughly 10,000 seats.

It’s enough room to place a soccer field in front of the fans — just the way former Las Vegas Mayor Bill Briare imagined. A fan of the budding sport his children played, he insisted the stadium, which opened in 1983, be able to accommodate soccer. Thirty-some years later, his vision is about to become a reality.

The United Soccer League announced last month that it was creating an expansion team in Las Vegas, hoping to bring thousands of “Olé, Olé, Olé”-chanting fans and their drums to the downtown stadium. The new team — named Las Vegas Lights FC by fans — will play its first game at Cashman Field in February, after striking a deal with the city to share the facility with the minor-league baseball team.

The former three-term mayor has passed away, but his son, Bob Briare, plans to be among the soccer devotees who descend upon Cashman to catch a game. His love for the sport transcended childhood: He’s now executive director of the Nevada Youth Soccer Association.

“It’s exciting,” Briare, 55, said. “I wish it had happened earlier so I would have more time to enjoy it.”

That’s the kind of enthusiasm team owner Brett Lashbrook hopes to harness as professional soccer makes its Las Vegas debut. But he’s determined to make both die-hard fans and casual spectators feel equally welcome to enjoy a “soccer-authentic experience” a few blocks away from the bustling Fremont Street area, where bars, restaurants and casinos could provide pre- and post-game entertainment.

It’s an arrangement city leaders have long touted in their quest to lure a professional sports team to downtown Las Vegas. The Oakland Raiders snubbed the offer and settled on land closer to the Las Vegas Strip instead.

Lashbrook couldn’t be more thankful. He’s a man on a mission to prove Las Vegas is a soccer town — even as professional hockey and football also take root in the desert.

“I think we’re going to sell out every game,” he said.

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If you didn’t know Lashbrook owned the team, you might not suspect it.

Unlike other pro-sports owners, he doesn’t travel with an entourage or necessarily adopt a corporate-boardroom dress code. When the USL announced the franchise expansion last month, Lashbrook donned a multi-colored soccer scarf and a blazer over a white, collared shirt and dressy jeans — exuding a down-to-earth, approachable vibe.

“I think that’s just the sport, right?” he said recently at a coffee shop while nibbling a cookie. “Not to sound too cliche, but ‘for the people, by the people, of the people.’ Soccer around the world is much more connected to its fans than, I would say, other sports.”

His soccer experience runs deep.

Originally from Kansas City, Lashbrook started interning with Major League Soccer — the highest-level league in the United States — as a senior in high school. It put him on a career trajectory that led to him being special assistant to the MLS commissioner and then chief operating officer for the Orlando City, a USL team that later became an MLS franchise. USL is a Division II soccer league that has nearly doubled in size since 2014.

Lashbrook knew he wanted to start an expansion team and had his eye on Las Vegas. He moved here in 2015 when his mother, who has lived in Las Vegas for years, faced some health concerns.

City leaders, however, were pursuing an MLS franchise. In late 2014, a split City Council approved public funding to the tune of $56.5 million, not including land, for a new soccer stadium in Symphony Park. The vote set off a controversy that resulted in the MLS deciding against expanding to Las Vegas two months later. The city didn’t apply for an MLS expansion team earlier this year.

Lashbrook said he approached the city a year and half ago about bringing a USL team here. His family, which built its wealth from oil and gas investments, is financially supporting the team.

The city approved a lease agreement with Lashbrook in July, allowing the USL team to play at Cashman Field for 15 years. The team will share the facility with the Las Vegas 51s, the Triple-A baseball affiliate of the New York Mets. Per terms of the deal, the city pays the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, $50,000 a year to operate the stadium, while the team shells out $6,000 in rent per game.

The co-habitation could be short-lived. The 51s’ owners — Howard Hughes Corp. and several investors — want to build a new ballpark in Summerlin. If and when the 51s leave Cashman, the city will assume stadium operations and, thus, no longer pay the LVCVA $50,000 annually.

The shared space doesn’t faze Lashbrook, who said he’s committed to making it look and feel like a soccer stadium. No baseball mound. Plenty of team signage. Spirited fans.

As soccer has matured in the United States, teams have learned that plunking a stadium in the middle of a suburban area often doesn’t pan out, he said. Consider it the millennial influence: Sixty-four percent of USL fans are 18 to 44 years old, a demographic likely to partake in drinks or food as part of the game-day experience.

Lashbrook rattles off a list of reasons why he’s convinced soccer will thrive in Las Vegas, starting with the old real-estate adage, “location, location, location.”

“We have a stadium in the heart of downtown Las Vegas,” he said. “We have 2.3 million people. We have a young average age, which plays into soccer demographics, an incredibly diverse city … and, candidly, the median income of Las Vegas fits very well with a $20 ticket. That’s not meant to be a dig at other sports.”

Las Vegas Councilman Ricki Barlow, who played on traveling soccer teams while growing up, said he anticipates the USL team will pave the way for an MLS franchise in Las Vegas, similar to what’s played out in other cities across the country.

“That’s the entire objective,” he said.

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Las Vegas Lights FC will be one of three expansion teams joining the USL next year, bringing the total number of markets to 33. The other cities launching a team are Nashville, TN, and Fresno, CA.

The lower-level league’s popularity has soared in various cities, drawing 10,000 fans or more per game in places such as Sacramento, CA, and Louisville, KY. Meanwhile, the Cincinnati team shattered average attendance records with more than 20,000 people filling the stadium each game this season.

USL President Jake Edwards expects a similar outcome in Las Vegas. More than 10,300 people participated in an online vote to help name the city’s new team, which he thinks bodes well for attendance next year.

“It’s the world’s game,” Edwards said. “Las Vegas, like many cities in the United States but perhaps more so, is a very global city.”

For clues about what the first season might yield, Las Vegas just has to look north.

Reno 1868 FC, a USL expansion team that debuted this year, has boasted 5,500 fans, on average, per game — equivalent to about 1.3 percent of the region’s population, said Andy Smith, the team’s general manager.

The team also shares a stadium with a minor-league baseball franchise, the Reno Aces, but managers have discovered soccer fans don’t crave mid-game gimmicks.

Instead, they prefer a more authentic soccer experience, where fans rally together during the non-stop games, Smith said. A supporters group called the Battle Born Brigade formed before the official team announcement, and now members regularly fill a section of the stadium and bring drums, smoke bombs and streamers.

“It’s about the sport,” he said. “Our fans are truly engaged for 90 minutes with what’s happening.”

But will Las Vegas, which, until recently, had zero professional sports teams, be able to support soccer in addition to hockey and football? The Vegas Golden Knights start their inaugural season this fall, and the Oakland Raiders are expected to move here by 2020.

Jared Smith, chief operating officer of the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance, says yes. He points to Cleveland — a city with a different economy and harsher weather but a similar population size — as a reason to be optimistic. Cleveland is home to the Cavaliers (NBA), Indians (MLB) and Browns (NFL) as well as the Monsters, an American League Hockey team affiliated with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

“I don’t see any teams leaving Cleveland anytime soon,” he said.

The USL’s entry into the market further highlights how Las Vegas is becoming a professional sports mecca and not just a gambling destination, said Jared Smith, who believes the city has “pent-up demand” for the incoming teams.

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Peter Guzman, president of the Latin Chamber of Commerce, said he’s eagerly anticipating the day when he can gather with soccer fans along Fremont Street at bars and restaurants and then march north on Las Vegas Boulevard to games at Cashman Field.

He’s expecting the city’s large Hispanic population to embrace the Las Vegas Lights FC. A survey sent out to Chamber members revealed broad support for a professional soccer team, especially one located at Cashman Field, which Guzman described as “ground zero” for the Hispanic community.

“I think downtown Las Vegas is still viewed upon by the Hispanic demographic as more affordable than the Strip, easier to get in and out,” he said. “They’ve always looked at Cashman as almost their own.”

While the USL draws large millennial crowds, Briare said he expects the region’s recreational soccer leagues to drive excitement and attendance at Las Vegas Lights FC games, too. He estimates that 30,000 children and teens play in youth soccer leagues in Southern Nevada.

“As more kids go out and watch professionals, they’ll want to play,” he said, describing the likely synergistic effect. “The team will get more fans for life.”

Lashbrook and his growing team — he plans to hire 20 to 25 staff members by the end of the year — has a busy few months ahead. They’ll be hiring a coach and players and finalizing details such as the team logo, which community members can help design.

Fan involvement along the way, he said, is crucial to the team’s success in Las Vegas.

“We are just the stewards of the club,” Lashbrook said. “It’s the fans and it’s the soccer community that’s going to carry this to unbelievable heights.”

So far, the team has taken more than 1,000 deposits for season tickets, he said. Exhibition games begin in February, followed by USL season games in March.

“It’s not a cult phenomenon,” Lashbrook said. “It’s reality. Soccer in the United States has made it.”