Burkle joining the Sacramento bid helped solidify the city's hopes for an MLS expansion teamGETTY IMAGES
MLS Commissioner Don Garber said that prospective expansion cities Sacramento and St. Louis are "not only the frontrunners to win a team this year, the two have submitted 'the strongest bids by far,'" according to a front-page piece by Tony Bizjak of the SACRAMENTO BEE. Garber "declined to say" whether one of the cities is "in the lead." He did indicate that the Sacramento group's "addition of two deep-pocketed investors from Southern California" -- Penguins co-Owner Ron Burkle and film producer Matt Alvarez -- was "key to solidifying the city’s bid." The comments "come as welcome news to Sacramento, which has fallen short for years as it pursued" an MLS team. League officials said that Sacramento "simply did not have the financial heft in its previously composed ownership group." Garber said that he "first spoke on the phone with Burkle about joining the Sacramento effort" in December '17. Burkle and Alvarez then "were recruited" by USL club Sacramento Republic FC Chair & CEO Kevin Nagle, team President & COO Ben Gumpert and Mayor Darrell Steinberg. Gumpert said the group is “as optimistic as ever.” Garber said that expansion will be a "key discussion item" at the league’s April BOG meeting in L.A. However, he "declined to say if the league will be ready to choose the 28th team next month" (SACRAMENTO BEE, 3/17).
NO CAP ON EXPANSION: Garber said that talks during the league's April meetings will include "discussion about adding more teams beyond a 28th." He said, "It's pretty clear to me as you see what has happened in Cincinnati -- which was not on anybody's soccer radar screen three or four years ago -- that there's a lot of opportunity to continue to build this league in cities across our country. That's something we'll have to wrestle with in years to come out, but it's a pretty good problem to have" (STARTRIBUNE.com, 3/19).
NEXT STEPS? USL club North Carolina FC Owner & Chair Steve Malik said that he and Raleigh-based developer John Kane "have 40 acres south of downtown 'under control' for a potentially massive redevelopment, which could bring" an MLS stadium, hotels and other amenities to a "part of town that is starting to see a wave of investment." In Raleigh, Zachery Eanes noted a new stadium is "seen as a requirement for landing a team," and so far, the local group "doesn’t appear to have had much traction with its initial site selection" (Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER, 3/17).
