Does MLS Know the way back to San Jose?

By: Bob | July 17th, 2007

If you ever want to maintain a soccer blog that does not lack for content you should consider firing one up about MLS expansion. The talk of which cities the league will expand to occupies some fans’ minds more than the play in the league itself. The MLS brass enjoys playing this up by seemingly announcing a new list of possible expansion candidates every three months or so. The names on the lists change, but the expectations and debates do not.

Those who follow the MLS expansion chatter closely always have the day before the league’s all-star game circled on their calendars. That is the day when league commissioner Don Garber steps to the podium and gives his state of the league message, a message that often includes big announcements and that adds fuel to the expansion fire.

Garber’s speech on Wednesday will once again be followed closely by those who read the MLS expansion tea leaves. He is on record as saying that he wants to add three more teams to the 13-team league. He listed the following cities as possibilities in an Internet chat on the MLS website Tuesday.

There’s more interest in MLS expansion than at any other time in the history of the sport in the country. Without prioritizing any one market, here is a rundown of the cities: Vancouver, Portland, Seattle, San Jose, Sacramento, San Diego, San Antonio, St. Louis, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Rochester, New York City, Atlanta, Miami and Las Vegas.

Which of those cities will end up with one of the three expansion teams? There has also been increasing speculation the past few weeks that one of those three teams will be in San Jose, a city that lost its team two years ago and whose potential owner is quoted as saying, “We’re not 1,000 percent there and we don’t want to pre-empt any announcement from Major League Soccer.” Sounds a bit like someone pre-empting an announcement, doesn’t it?

A few questions for those of you who follow this more closely than I. Does San Jose deserve another shot at MLS? Should it be a priority market in the expansion game or should the league focus on new teams in new cities? If you have to guess, and indeed you have to, what are the next three cities to experience MLS fun?

UPDATE: SI is reporting the Quakes are back