MLS does not expect club owners "to vote on the latest round of expansion at their December meeting, as some in Sacramento had believed," according to Dale Kasler of the SACRAMENTO BEE. Since Sacramento "emerged as a serious contender for an MLS franchise in August," community leaders and some execs of USL Pro club Sacramento Republic FC "have been looking to Dec. 6 as a possible decision date." That is when owners "will meet on the eve of the league’s championship game." With an eye "toward that meeting, Republic FC officials set a goal of selling 10,000 season tickets by early December to impress the league’s owners." However, MLS Exec VP/Communications Dan Courtemanche said that MLS execs "have never seen Dec. 6 as a pivotal date." Courtemanche added that the league "hasn’t set a timetable for an actual vote, either, but he said it’s possible a decision could be made in the first three months" of '15. Still, Courtemanche "made clear the league isn’t putting off expansion indefinitely." He said, "We are actively engaged with multiple markets." MLS has previously announced that it wants a total of 24 franchises by '20 (SACRAMENTO BEE, 11/7). In Sacramento, Ben van der Meer noted Republic FC, which "sold out nearly every game in its first season, is well into planning its second." Among the likely changes next year "are adding as many as 3,000 additional seats at Bonney Field, with season ticket sales already ahead of last year" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 11/6).
