Minnesota United will make its MLS debut on Friday, March 3 against the Timbers in Portland, and the match will be the "first game of the MLS season," with all other teams playing later that weekend, according to Andy Greder of the ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS. Minnesota United will “then make their home MLS debut against fellow expansion franchise Atlanta United” on March 12 at TCF Bank Stadium. The club's opening two games are "expected to be nationally televised" (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 12/22). Minnesota United Sporting Dir Manny Lagos in a release said, "To host at home against the other expansion team is always going to be a good story line. There's going to be a connection that we're always going to have with them because of the timing of our expansion into MLS" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 12/22). Meanwhile, in Atlanta, Doug Roberson notes Atlanta United will open its inaugural season hosting the Red Bulls on March 5 at Georgia Tech’s Bobby Dodd Stadium. The club will "play in Bobby Dodd until construction on Mercedes-Benz Stadium is completed," which is targeted for the summer. Atlanta United "surpassed 22,000 season-ticket sales months ago, and has repeatedly declined to provide an updated total" (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 12/22).
READY, WILLING & ABLE: SI.com's Brian Straus wrote as far as a stadium plans go, USL club Sacramento Republic FC is "ready to roll as soon as it gets the green light from MLS." The club has "access to a plot of land" just north of downtown, where a "massive redevelopment project already has been approved by the city council." The club and city signed a term sheet in '15, and the "environmental impact report and basic architectural and design elements have been approved." Work on the "finer details is well underway, although a stadium naming rights sponsor has yet to be secured." MLS has "no interest in admitting Republic before the stadium is ready, meaning there won’t be games in a temporary facility." But the league also "doesn’t plan to add a 25th team" before '19, "at the earliest." But if MLS "wants a club that’s ready to play right out of the gate" in '19 or '20, Sacramento is the "low/no-risk choice." The club already has a jersey deal signed with the UC Davis Health System and has "natural rivalries" with the Earthquakes and Galaxy. However, Sacramento is "still not a city that would bring a whole lot of big-league cache to MLS" (SI.com, 12/21).
