MLS Expansion - Are the Revs stopping plans for Hartford, Conn. club?

Is Robert Kraft, the owner of the New England Revolution, keeping the league from expanding into Hartford, Connecticut? Some in the city seem to think he most certainly is.

“What was communicated to me is that Hartford fell under the territorial rights of the New England Revolution and their owner, Kraft, would have to release us to make us available,” Gottesdiener said. “That was a couple months ago and, to my knowledge, we have not been released.”

The people behind the bid to bring pro soccer to Hartford further point out that since Kraft was one of the founding members of MLS, he has a great deal of clout and can sway a decision.

However, there is one problem with this argument as the team pushing this bid is Northland AEG, who are corporate cousins to AEG, ie the owner of LA, Houston and Chicago (and previous owners of three other clubs). Although I'm sure Kraft has a lot of sway when he talks, I'm guessing AEG has at least as much when they talk.

Anyway, the plan for Hartford would see a club play at the 40,000 seat Rentschler Field, which currently is the home of the University of Connecticut American football team. Interestingly enough, Rentschler was originally going to be much larger, but had to be scaled down after the New England Patriots decided against moving to Harford. And the owner of the Patriots is none other then Robert Kraft.

In the end, even if Kraft does say no to a club in Harford, a city 91 miles away from Boston, the league’s board of governors can still overrule him.