Nashville is expected to be awarded an MLS expansion franchise during an event in the city tomorrow. The league and Commissioner Don Garber will appear at an event tomorrow at the Country Music HOF alongside Nashville Mayor Megan Barry, Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and Nashville SC Owner John Ingram, who is heading the bid. MLS announced earlier this month that Cincinnati, Detroit, Nashville and Sacramento were the four finalists for the next two expansion spots, which it hoped to announce by the end of this year. The league will also announce two additional expansion teams at a later point. MLS held a BOG meeting last week, which followed a meeting of its expansion committee with the four groups a week prior. While Nashville was considered more of a dark horse candidate when the league announced the 12 cities that were in the running to land one of those four spots, Ingram and the city’s plan to build a 27,500-seat, $250M stadium just south of the city’s downtown with an added 10 acres of mixed-use development quickly boosted the group’s chances. Ingram is also joined in the ownership group by the Wilf brothers, who own the Vikings and previously bid for a Minnesota-based MLS club that ultimately was beaten out by Minnesota United. It is expected that MLS will announce the second expansion market later this week, which it also will do on-site in that city. While Nashville was viewed by many as a slam-dunk choice given the progress made in the city -- albeit without a current soccer team -- questions were raised about the other bids by the MLS board. Cincinnati had issues regarding its stadium plans, which had been ever changing, while Detroit plans to play at Ford Field and forgo building its own stadium. Sacramento had questions about the financial capability of its ownership group (Ian Thomas, Staff Writer).
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES: In Nashville, Joey Garrison notes the expected selection "caps a year-long expansion process in which Nashville overcame initial long odds to catapult up a list of 12 contenders to land one [of the] league’s 25th and 26th franchises." Ingram steadily "enhanced the city’s proposal" by bringing on the Wilfs and securing public funding for a stadium. Nashville's future MLS team would begin play in '20, though the new soccer-specific stadium would not open until the following season (TENNESSEAN.com, 12/19). Also in Nashville, Joe Rexrode notes the city will become the only market with its three major league pro teams coming from the NFL, NHL and MLS. This is a "hockey town right now" with the Predators "winning big and creating one of the best atmospheres in any sport, but this city has supported" the Titans well since they moved to the city in '99. Rexrode: "We have yet to demonstrate consistent support of a soccer team ... But we have demonstrated soccer fever." Considering Nashville's "ongoing, rapid growth," it feels like this is the "right time to make this jump" (TENNESSEAN.com, 12/19).
