Costa Rica championship team Saprissa was scheduled to train in Maricopa this summer.

Perceiving a lack of support from the local business community, a Costa Rican soccer club is hedging on its plans to bring the professional game to Maricopa.

Deportivo Saprissa had been contemplating playing exhibition games against regional teams at Maricopa High School this summer as a warm-up to a three-year commitment to have pre-season training in Maricopa and Casa Grande.

Those summer games, originally slated for late June at Ram Stadium, are postponed. Local organizer Peter Cockle said about 3,000 tickets had been sold before Saprissa made the decision. Ticket-buyers have been refunded and have the chance for half off future tickets.

Cockle said Saprissa was concerned about a “lack of response” from Maricopa businesses. But there were other worries.

“The main issue they have is the cost to change the field at the high school,” Cockle said.

Saprissa wanted to temporarily paint over the American football gridiron and have just soccer lines for its two games. Painting and repainting would have cost an estimated $35,000, Cockle said.

Now the plan is to bring professional soccer to Maricopa in early February with Major League Soccer teams instead of regional squads in off-season exhibition at Copper Sky Regional Park.

The popularity of soccer has paid off for Pima County. Five years ago, the Tucson area began hosting MLS pre-season as a replacement for lost Major League Baseball spring training games.

This year, 14 MLS teams trained in Tucson and utilized Grande Sports World in Casa Grande. A recent report on KVOA in Tucson stated Pima County picked up $1.5 million last year from hotel stays, dining and shopping related to MLS pre-season training.

Saprissa still has a three-year commitment in place to bring players to Arizona. Cockle said those soccer fans who bought tickets for this year’s cancelled games can pay half-price for tickets to next year’s games.