Major League Soccer expansion

[cycloneinpdx]

MLS Commissioner announced that the league will expand by 4 to 24 teams by the end of the decade (2020), following closely on the announcement of the leagues 20th team, a second New York team. Any soccer fans here have any guesses as to which cities will get the 4 teams (or are from a city and hope that you're one of the 4)?

Major League Soccer to expand to 24 teams by 2020 season, says Commissioner Don Garber | MLSsoccer.com

 

[driegner]

Something in Florida (although they may be reluctant after what happened to Tampa), Minneapolis, Indianapolis, Detroit, maybe Baltimore? I feel like the south isn't ready for soccer anytime soon.

 

[cycloneinpdx]

I've heard rumors that David Beckham wants to put a team in Miami, and Orlando has an established lower-level team with good ownership and a good fanbase. I don't think they would do one without the other. Outside of that, I think it's a crapshoot.

 

[cycloneike001]

Baltimore brings a big crowd to the USMNT games, I think having a team there would draw good crowds. Beckham talked about bringing a team to Orlando. I think one of the four has to be somewhere around the midwest. Minneapolis, Detroit or maybe Milwaukee. I hope the MLS can really step up their game by the end of the decade. A high level soccer league would be awesome to see.

 

[kucyclone]

I think Seattle could support a second team. I'm only half-kidding.

 

[CEcyclone]

so when can I expect promotion and relegation....

 

[Clonefan94]

Wherever there is a large hispanic population, MLS will do well. Soccer is definitely more popular to American kids now, but most of their parents still don't like it. This is pretty evident to me, when I am at my kids' practices and all the parents talk about is, "Wow, anything but soccer, I would have let them play anything, why soccer?"

I think the MLS team here, "The Chicago Quakers (Fire)" do pretty well, but from what I've heard, a good portion of the crowd is hispanic.

 

[Bewilderme]

The Wilf family has rights to an MLS team, so my guess is that once the new Vikings stadium is built, they will be in contention for one of those teams. I'm right there, buying season tickets if that happens! An MLS team in downtown MPLS would be a dream to me.

 

[ISUCyclones2015]

Atlanta with that new stadium. The mayor wants an MLS team.

 

[ianoconnor]

St. Louis should be one of them.

 

[mj4cy]

I don't know much about MLS other than Seattle supports its team the best.


What are biggest "household" teams in MLS? Biggest rivalries?

 

[SoapyCy]

Twin Cities for sure. The support of the A league team the Thunder has been outstanding for decades. The old coach, Buzz Lagos, lived right next door to my parents growing up so we'd always get tickets to the games as a child. They were good times.

 

[PabloDiablo]

Something in Florida (although they may be reluctant after what happened to Tampa), Minneapolis, Indianapolis, Detroit, maybe Baltimore? I feel like the south isn't ready for soccer anytime soon.

I feel like Minn would get behind the MLS big time, similar to how Seattle and Portland did with theirs.

I don't know much about MLS other than Seattle supports its team the best.


What are biggest "household" teams in MLS? Biggest rivalries?

LA, New York and Seattle are big names right now. Just read a grantland article about Salt Lake and KC having a budding rivalry and I think Portland and Seattle have a great geographical rivalry.

 

[cyhiphopp]

Just what the league needs, expansion and a diluted talent pool.

 

[TRZA]

I don't really care about which cities get franchises as much as the new teams having terribly awkward and unnatural names. I need something worse than Columbus Crew to feed my appetite.

 

[1Nation]

Obviously anything can change, but through my profession I'm fairly ahead of the curve and involved with the inside discussions. Minneapolis, St. Louis, Atlanta and Miami can pretty much pencil in a MLS franchise. And it's happening sooner than 2020.

 

[jdoggivjc]

I thought there was a FIFA rule stating that sanctioned leagues couldn't have more than 20 teams (EPL, La Liga, and Serie A all have 20, Bundesliga has 18). Perhaps we're getting closer to promotion/relegation in MLS.

And, being where I live, I've heard a lot of chatter that Detroit is really angling for one of those new teams.

 

[3TrueFans]

Just what the league needs, expansion and a diluted talent pool.

This is what I'd wonder, is there even the talent base that can support more teams at a reasonable level?

 

[TRZA]

The MLS can make itself the best league in North America, and entry point for players from Concacaf Region who want to go to Europe. Its not the talent. Nobody can name more than a handful of players in the league right now anyway. I think the English model of 20 team divisions just isn't big enough for MLS, expansion in inevitable.

 

[aeroclone]

Detroit? Seriously, who would put anything in Detroit right now?