MLS Expansion Dreams

With talent like David Beckham, Juan Pablo Angel and er, Khano Smith, Major League Soccer is genuinely getting better every year. As well as the Designated Player rule, there’s some nice homegrown talent sprouting up. Freddy Adu might still come good (or not, we’ll see) and Jozy Altidore is blazing his own teenage superstar trail just in case.

As well as the standard of player slowly but surely improving, the number of teams is growing. Real Salt Lake, Chivas USA and Toronto FC are the most recent additions to the fold, and they’re (more or less) holding their own. The more teams there are, the less of a joke the playoff system becomes, so eventually teams will need to have above average seasons to qualify for the post season. And more teams means more potential fans as the good word about the game is spread farther and wider across North America.

The plan is to have 16 MLS teams by 2010, which means three more teams. So who’s next for an MLS franchise?

What follows is pretty brief, and from someone with a borderline simpleton understanding of how business works (two weeks of Economics before dropping out of the course.)

There’s a plenty chatter about the return of the San Jose Earthquakes with Lew Wolff and John Fisher apparently talking to Don Garber about a Son Jose MLS team by 2008. The stumbling block seems to be negotiations about a soccer specific stadium that was part of the original agreement but which Garber may be prepared to overlook in order to balance out the MLS schedule (which is lopsided with 13 teams) as soon as possible. That would make three teams in California, good for the soccer loving state and good for a three-way instate rivalry but maybe a little unfair on other soccer deprived areas.

A group in Las Vegas are pretty serious too. Las Vegas Sports & Entertainment Group has hired Paul Caligiuri as their spokesman and sent MLS a proposal that includes a $500 million retractable-roof stadium, an adjacent hotel and casino, practice fields and other amenities on 200 acres. Seems MLS is sort of interested but typically non-committal. Even with only two weeks of economics study under my belt I see a lot of advantages to a Vegas franchise. There’s a growing population, it would be the only pro sports franchise in town, it would be an attractive destination for away fans looking to make a weekend of it and presumably punters would be able to bet on the games. The only problem? It’s in the middle of the desert.

The Pacific North-West deserves a team, no? Michael and James Keston apparently hold exclusive rights to an MLS franchise in Seattle or Portland. The previously touted Qwest Field now looks an unlikely home for a Seattle team though. It’s just too damn big and MLS won’t want to repeat the current crowd lost in a stadium situation that exists with New York Red Bulls and Giants Stadium. More likely the Kestons will have to build something new, though they’re also talking about PG&E Park in Portland or maybe converting the suburban Hillsboro stadium into something suitable. The interesting aspect is that both cities currently have relatively thriving USL 1 teams, the Seattle Sounders and the Portland Timbers. Though we’ll apparently be seeing USL/MLS promotion/relegation “not in ourlifetime” there’s a case to be argued for granting MLS franchises to established USL teams if the requisite financial and logistical jiggery pokery can be achieved. The benefits are an established tradition and fan base, plus soccer fans won’t be forced to choose between two pro teams. Also, Don Garber doesn’t know this but I plan on living a very long time, so we’ll see.

How about more teams in Canada? The Toronto FC experience has been mostly positive (Alecko Eskandarian’s brief visit aside) and suggests there’s room for another Canadian franchise in MLS. Vancouver Whitecaps and Montreal Impact are two of USL’s better teams, and as with the Portland and Seattle teams, could conceivably make the jump to MLS.

Elsewhere, Atlanta, Philadelphia and Cleveland are all big cities that could surely produce a fan base, if an ownership group could put something together. Another New York City team would be great to get a nice little rivalry going with the moneybags Red Bulls, or even the occasionally discussed Rochester, NY expansion team (though I’d recommend dropping the “Raging Rhinos” name that afflicts the USL team.) Florida surely needs an MLS team. Tampa Bay and Miami both folded but may be worth another pop. St. Louis, Phoenix, Milwaukee, Minneapolis and Detroit have also been mentioned.

Or maybe MLS will do something unexpected. With American owners all over the Premiership like a rash how about an MLS offshoot of an English club, similar to Crystal Palace Baltimore in USL 2? Maybe there’ll be a huge televised American Idol style play-off where eight potential teams will play each other for the right to earn a franchise while Simon Cowell makes snide comments.

Whatever happens, three more teams will join the lucky 13 by 2010 and countless other potential teams will be disappointed and Major League Soccer-less. Who would you most like to see in the league?

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Category: MLS, World Football