Expansion Rumors Megathread

they got three teenagers, meaning it will take them a while to get adjusted here like even the likes of barco took time.

EDIT: they need a mix, but i guess too early to tell, though you get the feeling it will be LAFC ish FO wanting to get the best they can

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At 30 teams, three conferences is 10 teams per conference. That leads to a 38-game season if you play your own conference twice and the others once.

Why would you want 38 games instead of 33 in an already congested schedule? 6 divisions of 5 keep most matches local. And you can keep 2 conferences for the playoffs.
 
Feels like #30 is Charlotte's to lose, with two Vegas bids chasing. Would love to know what is happening with Phoenix, there's been zero information for over a year. I always thought it was ambiguous as to whether they had a stadium plan finalized or not.
 
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Can anybody tell me why sacramento is getting so much hype? There's even a celebrity congrats video ... didn't know they were such a big deal.

I think team #30 will be raleigh or charlotte.
 
Can anybody tell me why sacramento is getting so much hype? There's even a celebrity congrats video ... didn't know they were such a big deal.

I think team #30 will be raleigh or charlotte.

Because they deserved to be in MLS many expansion slots ago, but they kept getting passed over.

They have a great fanbase at USL level, they have a great stadium plan ready to go and support of the city.

The only thing they didn't have was a deep enough pocketed owner, which seems to be the #1 criteria to MLS.
 
Because they deserved to be in MLS many expansion slots ago, but they kept getting passed over.

They have a great fanbase at USL level, they have a great stadium plan ready to go and support of the city.

The only thing they didn't have was a deep enough pocketed owner, which seems to be the #1 criteria to MLS.
It wasn't just the size of the pockets, it was the ownership group in general. It was fractured with the two key early players suing each other as the bidding process was going through. Then they had investors who were in, then out, then in then out again. It was a total clownshow. They weren't passed over as much as they simply couldn't get their act together this year.
 
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People criticize MLS for awarding a franchise to NYCFC without a firm commitment on the stadium, but what about Miami?

When the franchise finally became official, it was because there was agreement on a stadium site in Overtown, near downtown. As soon as MLS committed to the franchise, however, the local club decided not to pursue that site, and instead put together this deal for Melreese - which is not downtown and is more about an overall real estate project than a stadium for the club.

It was a ridiculous bait and switch, and now they may not even get Melreese done.
 
People criticize MLS for awarding a franchise to NYCFC without a firm commitment on the stadium, but what about Miami?

When the franchise finally became official, it was because there was agreement on a stadium site in Overtown, near downtown. As soon as MLS committed to the franchise, however, the local club decided not to pursue that site, and instead put together this deal for Melreese - which is not downtown and is more about an overall real estate project than a stadium for the club.

It was a ridiculous bait and switch, and now they may not even get Melreese done.

The idea that MLS had rigid requirements was never really true anyway, and both NYCFC and Inter Miami are very unique situations. Really, all bids are unique and are evaluated holistically. Ultimately, it's almost surely better for MLS to have teams in both spots with both ownership groups involved, but in non-ideal stadium situations, than not having them at all.

Also, the Miami group still owns the Overtown site, they just de-prioritized it. I'm not sure if they'd return to it or not, but its still there. I think they'll be more than happy to sit on it a few years and continue to try to force through Freedom Park for a while. They have public support.
 
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The idea that MLS had rigid requirements was never really true anyway, and both NYCFC and Inter Miami are very unique situations. Really, all bids are unique and are evaluated holistically. Ultimately, it's almost surely better for MLS to have teams in both spots with both ownership groups involved, but in non-ideal stadium situations, than not having them at all.

Also, the Miami group still owns the Overtown site, they just de-prioritized it. I'm not sure if they'd return to it or not, but its still there. I think they'll be more than happy to sit on it a few years and continue to try to force through Freedom Park for a while. They have public support.
I agree this element is overstated. No real estate deal is done until it closes and gets recorded in the county office. I doubt any ownership group closes on land for a new stadium before they are officially awarded a franchise. And they also don't have every permit and haven't cleared every potential lawsuit. The best anyone does is make handshake deals or enter into contracts in which the parties agree to enter into another contract later, and basically, any time people sign a deal to make another deal, you should suspect the first deal is not fully enforceable and is at least partly for show. Otherwise they usually would not need to make a second deal (some exceptions apply).
What I suspect MLS does is make sure ownership has a pre-deal with both the land owners and local government, and then they hope their counterparties don't renege and screw them over. Our counterparties did exactly that and here we are. I haven't really paid attention to Miami. They might have other factors at play as well, I just don't know.
 
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It just seemed like a total bait-and-switch in Miami, but who knows. Maybe MLS knew the owners would take a flier on the Melreese site knowing they could come back to Overtown. Problem is that it may be harder to get that one over the finish line after wasting a couple of years on the other option.
 
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CFG and beckham got a massive free pass with their bids. Both stadium situations are nowhere near resolved and quite frankly its a bit of a joke.
 
Miami and New York are two places foreign players really want to be which I think gives them an advantage fair or not. A team based in the MidWest that people from Europe or South America likely have never heard of have to be a little better prepared like it or not.