MLS Commissioner Don Garber yesterday "confirmed that the league was in 'advanced discussions'" with NASL club Minnesota United FC Owner Bill McGuire and his business partners "to bring an MLS expansion team to Minnesota," according to a front-page piece by Brackin & Olson of the Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE. Garber said that the official announcement "won’t be made for another 35 to 40 days," and the team "likely would not play" until the '18 season. Minnesota's "remaining hurdle" is "finalizing plans" for a new downtown outdoor stadium, but questions regarding the project's funding remain. McGuire is partnered with T'Wolves Owner Glen Taylor and the Pohlad family, which owns the Twins, but he "has yet to reveal his plans publicly." McGuire "had been in a two-pronged race for a team" with officials in Sacramento and "another prospective Minnesota ownership group headed by the Wilf family," which owns the Vikings. McGuire’s group "clearly sold the league on its vision of a boutique, downtown outdoor stadium in the area of Target Field and the Minneapolis Farmers Market." However, some of Minnesota’s most powerful politicians yesterday "were quick to quash any notion of public financing." Brackin & Olson report it is expected to cost about $300M "to bring an MLS team to Minnesota" -- a $100M expansion fee to the league and $150-200M for a stadium. There have been "indications that McGuire will ask for some public subsidy." Hennepin County Board of Commissioners Chair Mike Opat has "expressed his support for the soccer stadium and left open the possibility of county financial help, which could include funding for nearby roads and other public infrastructure" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 3/17). A source said that attorneys for MLS and McGuire's group are "going through contracts and documents to make a formal announcement within the next month." In St. Paul, Andy Greder cites a source as saying that no announcement "is expected until United returns March 25 from a 12-day preseason trip in Brazil" (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 3/17).
HEADED WEST? In Sacramento, Lillis & Kasler in a front-page piece note MLS for the first time said that it "will evaluate going beyond its previous goal of 24 franchises, leaving the door open for a Sacramento team in the foreseeable future." Some MLS experts said that Sacramento is "probably the leading candidate for a spot if the league expands beyond 24 teams." Garber has "long made it clear he wants a team in Minneapolis, helping fix a shortage of teams in the Midwest," but MLS’ statement "doesn’t doom Sacramento’s effort." The city and USL club Sacramento Republic FC "would see their chances improve dramatically if investors in Miami ... can’t deliver a stadium deal." Regardless of what happens in Miami, the league’s "willingness to consider additional expansion spots is encouraging for Sacramento" (
SACRAMENTO BEE, 3/17).
NO FACE, NO PLACE: In St. Louis, Tom Timmermann notes the "only hope" for the city to get an MLS team is if the league expands beyond 24 teams. The city has "long been viewed as a promising spot for a team because of its Midwest location and soccer history, but it has lacked two of the big components: ownership and a place to play." Since former St. Louis Soccer United Chair Jeff Cooper "abandoned his plans for a team" in '09, there has been "no public face to an MLS bid, and any team that would play here is hamstrung by the absence of even a place to play temporarily while a stadium was being built." Absent those two components, MLS "isn't coming to St. Louis" (
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 3/17).
