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There’s one more spot – where will MLS head next?

By on October 30, 2014

After the announcement of MLS’, erm… second twentieth team, Los Angeles Football Club, set to take the place of the second LA club after the collapse of Chivas USA, the question begs to be asked – where next? Just in the past year MLS has announced three other new expansion franchises – a second New York based team, New York City FC, Orlando City SC, and another team in Atlanta. Yet it doesn’t look like MLS is done expanding. The next club may well not be announced until 2017, when the last of the currently planned franchises will finally enter the league, however, commissioner Don Garber claimed that the league’s aim is to reach 24 clubs by 2020 speaking at the 2013 MLS All Star Game, leaving one more spot yet to be taken.

The United States is certainly big enough to fit another team, but then, where? Garber and deputy commissioner Mark Abbott have between themselves already announced that a host of cities are already under consideration to host the next MLS franchise, and if Garber sticks to his word, last club to enter the league. Minneapolis, San Antonio, Austin, St. Louis, Sacramento, and Las Vegas are the names the two have mentioned recently. Most are reasonable candidates. The MLS lacks teams in the midwest, making Minneapolis an ideal – in fact, Garber’s comments suggest the main on, and while Austin and San Antonio are both vying to become the third Texan club and Garber said in March that it would be a “premature” move for the start, he admitted that “something that is likely to happen” in the long term future. St. Louis would also seem a bit premature considers MLS’ wealth of clubs in the Northeast, but with the city recently having been awarded a team in the USL Pro and the history the city has with the sport – deeper than most having provided five of the eleven players that beat England in USA’s historic 1950 World Cup match – it is miles behind in the odds book than Minneapolis yet not that far behind Austin or San Antonio.

The market in Sacramento also seems an unlikely host for a MLS club despite USL Pro club Sacramento Republic’s valiant bidding. However, the San Francisco Bay Area currently has a team in San Jose Earthquakes, and Garber’s remark: “Show that there’s a real appetite north of San Jose for professional, high-level soccer, and we’ll see what happens,” suggests that promoting the club to the MLS is still a dream. Las Vegas doesn’t look as unlikely, with a potential stadium construction on the cards, but if it were to be MLS’ last club the addition of LA’s second club makes it an less appealing choice.

Ranked, the list of potential expansion locations has a clear winner, Minneapolis. NASL team Minnesota United FC is expected to be the team promoted if Minnesota is the state picked to host the 24th franchise, with Garber having said, “Minneapolis is on the short list. Lots of interest there. We’ve had a high level of activity with the current Minnesota United ownership group … We think they’re smart. We think they’re focused, and they’re great community citizens.” If I’ve ever heard a hint before that would be it. Behind Minneapolis would probably be San Antonio and Las Vegas, with Sacramento, St. Louis, and Austin trailing behind because of a lack of market potential and lacks of well-voiced bids. The US is a large country, however, and the potential of other cities winning the bid – perhaps more in the Southeast or Northwest, is certainly there while the MLS expanding to 25 or 26 teams is also a possibility. Garber, though has claimed via Twitter that he thinks 30 teams would be much too many.

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.