MLS and expansion club Nashville SC are "putting public pressure" on Mayor John Cooper to "follow through on a deal to build a new soccer stadium in Nashville," according to Yihyun Jeong of the Nashville TENNESSEAN. League and club officials in a statement said there is "'deep disappointment' that the mayor has not come to a consensus with the team's ownership group on the future of the MLS stadium at Fairgrounds Nashville." Jeong notes MLS and Nashville SC are "asking for an update on a 'mutually agreeable solution' by Feb. 6." The $250M stadium project is "stalled as Cooper has held off since October on signing paperwork to green light demolition of the old fairground expo centers." The joint statement is the "first public stance" the Nashville SC ownership group has taken to "express frustration at the delays." It was "released hours after" Cooper and Nashville SC Owner John Ingram traveled to N.Y. on Thursday to meet with MLS Commissioner Don Garber about the deal. During the meeting, Garber "made it clear to Cooper that the 'league would not have awarded Nashville an expansion team without the commitment made by the city to build a soccer stadium at the Fairgrounds'" (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 1/31). SOCCER AMERICA's Paul Kennedy writes the "irony" is that Nashville won the '17 expansion sweepstakes because it was the "only city that had an owner with deep pockets and approval on a stadium plan" (SOCCERAMERICA.com, 1/31).
