Major League Soccer commissioner says El Paso isn’t ‘as far along for the next round’ of expansion
MLS Commissioner Don Garber had a State of the League Roundtable on Dec. 2 in which he discussed league expansion, among several other topics.
He recently held talks with groups from Sacramento, Minnesota, and Las Vegas about placing expansion teams in those cities.
“We have also been in discussions with San Antonio, El Paso and St. Louis, they are just not as far along for the next round,” Garber said during the roundtable.
The league will grow to 20 teams in 2015 with the addition of New York City FC and Orlando City FC. Atlanta and Los Angeles’ second team will begin play in 2017.
MLS will expand to 24 teams by 2020 but expansion beyond that is not known at this time, Garber said.
Garber said discussions about expanding beyond 24 teams could come two years, five years, or even 20 years down the road.
The MLS board of governors will hear a report from the league’s expansion committee on Saturday, Dec. 6.
Garber said the league will name expansion teams in 2015, possibly in the first half of the year.
MountainStar Sports Group, which owns the Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas, in June announced it had preliminary meetings with MLS about expanding to El Paso.
MountainStar Sports Group launched a website and social media accounts with #BringItMLS to garner support for a team in the Borderplex.
On Nov. 5, Alan Ledford, president of MountainStar Sports Group, was a guest on an online radio show hosted by the “Sports Professor, Rick Horrow.”
Horrow said that choosing El Paso for MLS wouldn’t just be choosing a city in the Southwest but really a region because of the proximity to Mexico.
Horrow said choosing El Paso would be “found money” for MLS.
Ledford told Horrow that El Paso has four things going for it that the ownership group thinks would make the city ideal for an MLS expansion team:
A very unique geographic region.
Fantastic ownership group with a mindset to do great things.
Developing a Downtown venue which is important to MLS.
Underlying level of community support and passion for the sport.
“It’s a classic public-private partnership,” Ledford told Horrow of what is needed to get an MLS team. “It’s critical to not only have a motivated ownership group who will be required to put up a significant investment, in terms of acquiring and financing a team, but a community and municipality a city and a county that are prepared to help make the stadium possible.”
Listen to the full Ledford interview with Horrow athttp://bit.ly/1p1A5aW.
The race to get an MLS expansion team has been heating up the last few months:
MountainStar Sports Group, which owns the Triple-A baseball team El Paso Chihuahuas, announced in mid-June that they have had “preliminary and positive discussions” with MLS about El Paso getting an expansion team. MountainStar launched its website bringitmls.com in early October to garner support in the “Borderplex” for an MLS team.
The San Antonio Scorpions revealedplanson Sept. 3 to expand their existing stadium from an 8,000-seat facility to an 18,000-seat facility in an effort to get an MLS expansion team. Some owners of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings and a UFC fighter are part of the group trying to get an expansion team in Sacramento.Sacramento Republic FC selected a stadium sitein mid-September and revealed more investorsrecently.
Las Vegas has two different potentialownership groupstrying to lure MLS to Las Vegas.
Charlotte jumped in the scrum for an MLS team in mid-September with its USL PRO club changing hands.
Related Content:
MountainStar pushing prospect of MLS in BorderplexOctober 09, 2014
MountainStar Sports Group president talks next steps in pursuit of Major League Soccer teamSeptember 3, 2014 Major League Soccer’s deputy commissioner talks expansion contenders Sacramento and TexasAugust 06, 2014 County Coliseum site to see changes: Soccer stadium a possibility?July 22, 2014 MLS in El Paso? Mayor reactsJuly 21, 2014 More than 15,000 fans attend soccer match at Sun Bowl StadiumJuly 21, 2014 Major League Soccer player, El Paso native Omar Salgado thinks MLS would be successful in El PasoJune 20, 2014 Chihuahuas ownership group pursuing Major League Soccer franchiseJune 16, 2014 MLS commissioner: Stadium in Downtown preferred for all future MLS expansion franchisesJune 17, 2014 Major League Soccer facts: How much teams are worth, attendance figures, and moreJune 16, 2014
