Expansion of Major League Soccer

Since Major League Soccer, the top level of soccer in the United States, was created in 1993 with ten initial teams, it has expanded several times into new markets across the United States and in 2006 into Canada for the first time. MLS has announced a further rise to 18 teams by 2011.

History

Foundation

Major League Soccer was first established in 1993. It was a requirement of FIFA that the United States set up a professional first division in order to gain the rights to host the 1994 FIFA World Cup. [http://web.mlsnet.com/about/] The United States had not had a successful professional soccer league since the collapse of the North American Soccer League in 1985.

After being founded in 1968 the NASL had initially been very successful – particularly the New York Cosmos who fielded a number of world-famous stars including Pele. As the sport grew in popularity the number of teams rapidly grew reaching their peak in the early 1980s, when there were twenty four teams - nineteen in the United States and five in Canada.

Since the NASL had collapsed in 1985, professional soccer teams had largely disappeared except in Canada where the Canadian Soccer League was formed with several former NASL clubs as members, until that league also folded in 1992.

There were a number of reasons for the failure of NASL, but one explanation was the lack of brand loyalty and poor placement of teams. It was common for franchises to move around from city to city, and change names, which made it difficult to build a sustainable fan base. While teams placed in major urban centres such as New York had succeeded in drawing a large popular following, many other clubs in smaller cities struggled to attract crowds.

Initial teams (1996)

This experience led MLS to be extremely cautious in establishing new franchises, having identified the rapid overexpansion as being a major element in the collapse/failure of the NASL. It was decided to create twelve new teams, to be placed in carefully selected cities where there was believed to be a strong market for soccer.

Those chosen were largely done so on a fresh basis rather than cities that had hosted teams in the NASL era. It was intended to expand further, as circumstances permitted. A key aim was to create several popular and profitable franchises as the backbone of MLS, before moving into other markets. The MLS had initially planned on a twelve team league, but this was cut back to ten when potential backers couldn't be found. [Wangerin p.272]

The initial ten teams created were the Columbus Crew, D.C. United, the New England Revolution, the NY/NJ MetroStars, the Tampa Bay Mutiny, the Colorado Rapids, the Dallas Burn, the Kansas City Wiz, the Los Angeles Galaxy and the San Jose Clash.

While New York and Los Angeles were awarded franchises the next five largest cities Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, San Deigo and Detriot were all without a team. [Wangerin p.272]

Using American Football stadiums, the new league kicked off in April 1996.

First Expansion (1998)

In 1998 the league expanded for the first time rising from ten teams to twelve. The two expansion teams were based in Chicago and Tampa. The new teams were the Chicago Fire and Tampa Bay Mutiny.

Problems (1998-2001)

After a promising start, attendances were falling and all clubs were losing money. In addition the teams were owned by a small number of owners - hindering further expansion. These problems led MLS Commissioner Doug Logan to be replaced by Don Garber who had experience in the NFL.

One of the methods of tackling these problems was an emphasis the construction of soccer-specific stadiums for existing and potential future members. This was for many years seen as a de facto requirement for any potential expansion franchise. [http://www.nationalpost.com/rss/story.html?id=794697] In 1998 not one MLS team played in a SSS, while by 2008 the majority did so, with several other new stadiums in the pipeline.

Withdrawal from Florida (2002)

In January 2002 the league announced the end of its two Floridian teams, Miami Fusion and the Tampa Bay Mutiny at the end of the 2001 season. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/us_sport/1750024.stm] This was for financial reasons. Both teams were withdrawn from the league, and folded. No new expansion franchises were granted that year – so the number of teams fell to ten once more. [http://www.sptimes.com/2002/01/09/news_pf/Sports/MLS_folds_Mutiny.shtml]

The surprise performance of the United States Men's National Soccer Team at the 2002 World Cup, where they reached the quarter final [http://german.about.com/library/weekly/aa020614a.htm] , sparked a recovery in the league’s fortunes, and attendances once again began to rise. The MLS began looking to expand once more, with a number of cities now interested in hosting new teams. The demand for an expansion team grew, which eventually allowed MLS to command an expansion fee of $40 million.

econd Los Angeles Franchise (2004)

The league added two new teams in 2004. Los Angeles became the first city to host two MLS teams, when Chivas USA was founded. They were linked to the Mexican club Club Deportivo Guadalajara and hoped to build a following amongst the Hispanic community. They share the Home Depot Stadium with their neighbours LA Galaxy. This created MLS’s first Local derby game.

alt Lake City (2004)

Real Salt Lake City were created in 2004, owend by Dave Checketts. They played out of Rice-Eccles Field initially before moving to the Rio Tinto Stadium in 2008.

Houston Dynamo (2005)

In 200 The San Jose Earthquakes were put on hiatus, because of a failure to secure a soccer specific stadium. The players and the coach were moved to Houston, Texas where they became the Houston Dynamo, playing out of the Robertson Stadium.

This was the first time a franchise had been relocated in MLS, thought it had been common in its predecessor the NASL, though the league insisted they had plans to return to San Jose. After a three year hiatus the San Jose Earthquakes were reformed in 2007 [http://web.mlsnet.com/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20070718&content_id=106314&vkey=pr_mls&fext=.jsp] , and resumed play in the MLS the following season.

Expansion to Canada (2006)

In 2005 the league announced the creation of a Canadian franchise to be based in Toronto. [ [http://forums.soccerfansnetwork.com/showthread.php?t=35864 Name Toronto's MLS team?] ] This was confirmed on May 11 2006 when the new team name FC Toronto and logo were announced. [http://www.cbc.ca/sports/indepth/mls_toronto/index.html] The club played their first season in MLS in 2006, finishing bottom.

The introduction of the MLS into Canada took MLS into a separate country for the first time, mirroring the set-up in Major League Baseball and the NBA which involve teams from both nations. MLS had announced their intentions to move into the Canadian market, and their had been strong support from the Canadian Soccer Association which believed it would be good for the Canadian game, after previous attempts at trying to create a separate Canadian professional league had failed.

In Europe the governing body UEFA has had a tendency to block any potential new leagues across national borders, but there were no serious objections to the move into Canada from the North American Federation CONCACAF.

In 2008 a Canadian Championship was set-up as the highest form of soccer in Canada, and to determine Canada’s qualifier for the CONCACAF Champions League. One of the founders was FC Toronto. However, it is intended to be complimentary to MLS rather than it competition with it.

Philadelphia Franchise

On February 28 2008 MLS announced that the sixteenth franchise would be awarded to Philadelphia. [http://web.mlsnet.com/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20080228&content_id=140965&vkey=pr_mls&fext=.jsp] There had been a strong campaign to bring a team to the city with intense lobbying by supporters groups such as the Sons of Ben.

Philadelphia had remained one of the largest Metropolitan areas in the US without a MLS franchise. The club has not been named yet, but are popularly known by the name Zolos. [http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/articles/16620/cover-story] The new team announced their intention to construct a 20,000 seat stadium in Chester, Pennsylvania.

eattle Franchise

Seattle was awarded a franchise in 2007 in spite of the fact that the city did not have a Soccer-specific stadium or any plans to construct one. [http://www.usatoday.com/sports/soccer/2007-11-09-3226911324_x.htm] Instead they announced their intentions to play matches at Qwest Field. [http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/11/10/sports/NA-SPT-SOC-Seattle-MLS-Franchise.php] Following a vote by supporters, the team chose the name Seattle Sounders, because of its heritage in Seattle soccer. [http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=soccer&id=3334786]

Future

MLS has announced its intentions to expand to eighteen teams by 2011. Seattle was awarded the expansion for 2009 and Philadelphia for 2010. Competition for the other two spots intensified in July 2008 when MLS drew up a list of nine candidate cities for the two remaining franchises to be awarded for the 2011 season.

There are no current plans to expand outside of the United States and Canada.

Atlanta

Atlanta was identified my MLS as one of the cities it was interested in expanding into, saying "tremendous potential market that would expand the league's footprint into the Southeast". Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank was interested in bringing a team to Georgia. [http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/stories/2008/06/20/mlsatlanta_0620.html]

Las Vegas

In May 2007 it was reported that buisnessmen Mark Noorzai had put put together a bid for a Las Vegas team [http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2007/may/31/35-million-bet-on-pro-soccer/] and the campaign was given a boost when it was named on MLS's shortlist for expansion in November 2007. In September 2008 there were reports that the group behind the Vegas bid were attenmptingto to buy into the Columbus Crew, possibly as the first step in a plan to relocate them to Las Vegas. [http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=891026] [http://www.columbusdispatch.com/live/content/sports/stories/2008/09/30/crew_0930.ART_ART_09-30-08_C1_KGBFHA2.html?sid=101]

Miami

Miami has recently crept back into the expansion picture as FC Barcelona and Marcelo Claure, President of Club Bolívar are in discussions with Florida International University about the possibility of bringing a Major League Soccer expansion franchise to the FIU Stadium, due to be completed as a 21,000 seat stadium in 2011.

Asked to confirm if FIU is talking about bringing MLS to the FIU Stadium, FIU athletic director Pete Garcia said: "There has been serious discussions to bring the highest level of professional soccer to South Florida and in particular to our new FIU Stadium". [http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/soccer/story/718676.html]

Montreal

Montreal has become one of the favorites for expansion. The Montreal Impact of the United Soccer League one of the most profitable and sucsesful teams outside of MLS who opened the 14,000 capacity Saputo Stadium in 2008. Both owner Joey Saputo and George Gillett, co-owner of Liverpool FC of the English Premier League, have expressed interest in Impact joining the MLS. There are plans to expand the Saputo Stadium to 20,000 should the city be awarded an expansion franchise. [https://www.tsn.ca/soccer/story/?id=232884]

New York

New York Mets owner Fred Wilpon is looking to bring a team in to the borough of Queens. According to reports, the team would play in a newly constructed stadium near Citi Field.

Ottawa

Ottawa has increasingly campaigned for an expansion franchise. [http://www.tsn.ca/soccer/story/?id=249684] The campign is being driven by Eugene Melnyk, the owner of the Ottawa Senators, who has announced plans to build a 30,000 seat stadium in the Canadian capital. [http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/clubfootball/news/newsid=882478.html#ottawa+launches+mls+franchise+plan] The city was one of the nine identified by the MLS as candidate for the 2011 expansion and the MLS have indicated a desire to expand further in Canada, though Ottawa is likely to have to compete with Vancouver and Montreal for future Canadian expansion places. [http://web.mlsnet.com/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20080912&content_id=187589&vkey=news_mls&fext=.jsp]

Portland

Portland, Oregon was announced as one a candidate for expansion. On August 1st, Merritt Paulson announced that he would apply for an MLS franchise for Portland as a MLS continuation of the Portland Timbers. Paulson further outlined his plan by launching a website on September 3rd. [http://www.mlstoportland.com] The MLS Timbers would play in a renovated PGE Park sharing with the Portland State University American Football team.

t Louis

In November 2007 St Louis was identified by Commissioner Don Garber as one of the most likely spots for expansion alongside Philadelphia, which was subsequently awarded a franchise. [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Expansion_of_Major_League_Soccer&action=edit&section=13]

St Louis was historically an epicentre of American soccer as early as the late nineteenth century. [Wangerin p.29] There are plans to build a new stadium in Collinsville, Illinois.

Vancouver

One of three Canadian cities in the running for MLS expansion, Vancouver's bid has been led by former NBA star Steve Nash with the support of the existing United Soccer League side the Vancouver Whitecaps.

The city's bid for a franchise would be boosted by the proposed construction of the Whitecaps Waterfront Stadium, with an initial capacity of 20,000 with the potential for further expansion. [http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5iVKCbzKwrtAEhrivF_UbvK8liqzw]

Bibliography

* Goldblatt, David. The Ball is Round:A Global History of Football. Penguin Books (2007).
* Tossell, David. Playing for Uncle Sam: The Brits' Story of the North American Soccer League. Mainstream Publishing (2003).
* Wangerin, David. Soccer in a Football World:The Story of America's Forgotten Game. WSC Books (2006).

References