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| Owners and officials for the four bidders will make formal presentations in N.Y. on Dec. 6
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MLS has selected Cincinnati, Detroit, Nashville and Sacramento as finalists for the two expansion spots that it will announced later this year. Owners and officials for the four bidders will make formal presentations to MLS Commissioner Don Garber and the league’s expansion committee in N.Y. on Dec. 6. The league will hold a full BOG meeting on Dec. 14 in N.Y., where expansion will be a topic of discussion. MLS in January announced that it received 12 bids for the next four MLS expansion clubs. The other eight bidders were Charlotte, Indianapolis, Phoenix, Raleigh/Durham, St. Louis, San Antonio, San Diego and Tampa/St. Petersburg. While only these four cities are being considered for the two spots in the upcoming expansion decision, all remaining markets will be under consideration for the following two spots. MLS has not yet announced the timeline for that decision (
Ian Thomas, Staff Writer).
THE CONTENDERS: In Sacramento, Ryan Lillis reports the city has "long been considered a front-runner" for expansion. USL club Sacramento Republic FC "draws regular sellouts and the team has begun pre-construction work on a privately-financed soccer stadium in the downtown railyard." Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg this morning tweeted, "One step closer for our indomitable city, a city built for MLS and so much more" (SACBEE.com, 11/29). In Nashville, Juan Buitrago notes MLS observers see the city "as one of two favorites to earn a franchise," especially after the city's approval of a public-private deal for a $275M stadium earlier this month. Garber on multiple occasions has "identified Nashville, Sacramento, Cincinnati and Detroit as four standpoints since MLS began accepting expansion applications" (TENNESSEAN.com, 11/29). In Cincinnati, Bob Strickley notes the city's USL club "cleared a hurdle Monday" when a majority of City Council signed off on spending up to $36M to help build the team a new stadium. The City Council and Hamilton County Commissioners "will be discussing the stadium" during a meeting this afternoon (CINCINNATI.com, 11/29). In Detroit, Vince Ellis notes the "proposed site" for an MLS team in the city is Ford Field -- not a soccer-specific stadium (FREEP.com, 11/29).
