MLS owners "spent hours discussing the possibility of awarding an expansion team to Sacramento or some other city Saturday, but concluded that they still have unanswered questions about each candidate," according to Dale Kasler of the SACRAMENTO BEE. MLS President & Deputy Commissioner Mark Abbott said that the league "wants to meet again with each of the bidders in the next few weeks to answer 'questions and issues that we identified with each of the proposals.'" The announcement of additional meetings with investors from each city indicates that MLS officials "still have a ways to go before making up their mind." Abbott confirmed that two teams, "not one, could be awarded." That depends on "what happens with soccer legend David Beckham, who has been awarded a franchise for Miami contingent on building a new stadium." MLS officials said that the BOG also "heard an update from a fourth city seeking a team, San Antonio." But it seems clear that Sacramento, Minneapolis and Las Vegas "are in the lead" (SACRAMENTO BEE, 12/7). The league intends "to announce the next bid in the first six months of next year" (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, 12/7). MLS Commissioner Don Garber said during halftime of yesterday's MLS Cup, “I don't think we're still fully grown out. ... I don't know when that full growth will come. I've said that by 2020, we’ll be 24 teams and will be, if not sooner than that. After that, it will be somebody else for you guys to talk to, and I think at some point our country and Canada can support lots and lots of teams” (“MLS Cup,” ESPN, 12/7).
MINN & YOU'RE IN: In Minneapolis, David La Vaque wrote the fact that an MLS expansion announcement "could be seven months away" is a "possible reprieve for one of the two Minneapolis groups seeking a franchise." The extra time "could benefit the group headed" by NASL club Minnesota United FC Owner Bill McGuire, who "has not publicized plans for a stadium -- a requirement by MLS." But United FC President Nick Rogers "stopped short of calling Saturday’s announcement beneficial." Rogers: "I don’t see it as a victory or a setback. There was not much in the league’s statement to react to" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 12/7). ESPN soccer analyst and Minneapolis native Taylor Twellman said of the city's chances, "If you could grow MLS into any (market), my first answer has always been Minneapolis and my second answer has always been St. Louis. Minneapolis is begging for it. They have a bidding system here. How many markets can say that?" He added, "Soccer immediately would give the Wolves and the Twins a run for their money" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 12/7).
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Keane says he knows of "big players" that
want to come and play in MLS |
SIGNS OF GROWTH: In L.A., Phil Collin wrote while MLS "is drawing some record crowds," soccer in the U.S. "will still be relegated to an afterthought in sports sections and websites." It "may be the global game, but it’s hardly universal here." Galaxy coach Bruce Arena, "as optimistic as he is about MLS, understands the media’s role in the future of the sport." Arena: "We need to have better coverage in this sport. Right now, listen, it depends on what your definition of the best is, I’m not sure having all these rag newspapers in England is necessarily ... But they’re on the game 24 hours a day, seven days a week" (L.A. DAILY NEWS, 12/6). Meanwhile, Galaxy F Robbie Keane believes that the stereotype that MLS is an easy place to end a career "is outdated." He said, "Maybe six or seven years ago it was but it certainly isn’t now. ... It is going to continue growing for a long time. If you look at the players coming and the players who want to come here, there are a lot of players that I know personally, big players who want to come now. I can’t tell you who they are but it tells me how far this league has come" (REUTERS, 12/6).
BARGAINING CHIPS: Galaxy D and MLSPU Exec Board Member Todd Dunivant on Saturday revealed that with the MLS CBA expiring after yesterday's MLS Cup final, the union "submitted their first proposal to MLS three weeks ago, and was awaiting the first counterproposal in what he expects to be a prolonged tug-of-war." Dunivant: "They’re going to focus on the losses and we’re going to focus on the revenue. It’s pretty simple. I wouldn’t think that they’d want to say that they’re making tons of money and things are going great. ... I wouldn’t expect much until February." GOAL.com's Ives Galarcep reported the union is set to meet this week in Las Vegas to "discuss the process ahead of a meeting" in N.Y. with MLS officials at the end of the month. Dunivant said, "The finances have changed a lot and we feel like the player pool should reflect that, and if the league wants to live up to the billing of being the best league in 2022, and really be on the world stage, then you can’t do it with different rules than what the rest of the world plays by" (GOAL.com, 12/6). FOXSPORTS.com's Kyle McCarthy wrote, "The battle lines are firmly drawn with MLS attempting to temper its enthusiasm with the harsh realities of financial losses and the MLS Players Union pointing to the optimistic statements and pushing for higher salaries and structural changes to foster freedom of movement." The distance "between those two poles leaves plenty of ground to cover and many details to sort out." Garber last week "reaffirmed his mandate to steer the league toward profitability in the future," after asserting that the league collectively loses $100M per year. The focus "now falls firmly upon the possibilities ahead as a landmark season beckons next year" (FOXSPORTS.com, 12/7).
