MLS Expansion - Garber says Seattle and an East Coast city next
MLS commissioner Don Garber was impressed with what he experienced in Portland yesterday, but it looks like Seattle will be the city to earn one of the next expansion teams.
"The league probably will name Seattle and an East Coast city as sites for the newest franchises, to begin play in 2009, Garber said. Portland is vying for one of two more expansion teams that would begin play in 2010 or 2011, he said. The competition includes Atlanta, Montreal, San Diego, St. Louis and Vancouver, B.C."
This is the most definitive statement I have seen from Garber concerning the next two expansion teams. Now he did say 'probably' to allow some wiggle room, but it looks like Seattle is indeed on. But what about the East Coast city? If you're in Philadelphia, you got to like the sound of that. The other possible cities are New York or Miami but neither of those cities seems to be as close to a deal as the city of brotherly love.
Which makes me wonder about St. Louis as things have been looking really good there. The City of Collinsville is taking a lot of steps to get the land annexed and rezoned for stadium use and the bond package doesn't seem to be hitting major roadblocks, but then again, maybe more is happening behind the scenes in Pennsylvania.
But back to the article, it seems that PGE Park is a good option for MLS but a few things are needed such as 'grandstand seating on the stadium's vacant east side, a new playing surface and more restrooms and concessions.' If this happens, it means the baseball team needs to move, which would require a new facility to be built, costing around $30 million.
On the plus side, it appears that those in city government are interested in making it happen, however not at the cost of basic services.
"The league probably will name Seattle and an East Coast city as sites for the newest franchises, to begin play in 2009, Garber said. Portland is vying for one of two more expansion teams that would begin play in 2010 or 2011, he said. The competition includes Atlanta, Montreal, San Diego, St. Louis and Vancouver, B.C."
This is the most definitive statement I have seen from Garber concerning the next two expansion teams. Now he did say 'probably' to allow some wiggle room, but it looks like Seattle is indeed on. But what about the East Coast city? If you're in Philadelphia, you got to like the sound of that. The other possible cities are New York or Miami but neither of those cities seems to be as close to a deal as the city of brotherly love.
Which makes me wonder about St. Louis as things have been looking really good there. The City of Collinsville is taking a lot of steps to get the land annexed and rezoned for stadium use and the bond package doesn't seem to be hitting major roadblocks, but then again, maybe more is happening behind the scenes in Pennsylvania.
But back to the article, it seems that PGE Park is a good option for MLS but a few things are needed such as 'grandstand seating on the stadium's vacant east side, a new playing surface and more restrooms and concessions.' If this happens, it means the baseball team needs to move, which would require a new facility to be built, costing around $30 million.
On the plus side, it appears that those in city government are interested in making it happen, however not at the cost of basic services.
Labels: Collinsvile, Don Garber, MLS, MLS expansion, Philadelphia, Portland, Seattle, St. Louis
posted by Mike H at 4:23 PM
1 Comments:
If Montreal isn't in strong consideration for 2010, I don't know what's wrong with Garber. Once the Canadian protections enacted for Toronto FC expire, Montreal should be a shoe-in to move up from USL D1 to the MLS. The phenomenon that was Toronto FC last year would only be repeated and suddenly you have a rivalry between TFC and the Impact. They could even have a Canadian Cup awarded each season.
The only thing I would ask is for the Impact to change their name. Impact is hideous.
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