MLS Expansion Update: Miami is in? Plus Sacramento, Cincinnati, Phoenix and Indy

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https://www.thebluetestament.com/2018/2/7/16983938/mls-expansion-update-miami-is-in-plus-sacramento-cincinnati-phoenix-and-indy-detroit

MLS Expansion Update: Miami is in? Plus Sacramento, Cincinnati, Phoenix and Indy

All the latest on MLS expansion including when team 26 will “hopefully” be announced by.

Time Frame for Who is Next?

After nearly a year of promising two teams would be announced for MLS Expansion by late December, the month came and went with only Nashville being announced. Miami came in late January, but they weren’t part of the 12 cities in the running. Sacramento, Cincinnati and Detroit are all still waiting.

Apparently they may be waiting for a bit. While speaking with Sports Illustrated (jump to 11:48 for Garber), MLS Commissioner Don Garber stated “hopefully before the start of the season,” when referring to team number 26. Hopefully. He added that there were “no issues” and they are just “dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s.” Hmmm.

Let’s discuss those three candidates first.

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https://www.brotherlygame.com/2018/2/7/16987314/penn-fc-names-raoul-voss-as-head-coach

Penn FC Names Raoul Voss as Head Coach

Voss most recently served as assistant coach with the Tampa Bay Rowdies

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http://www.espn.com/soccer/united-states/story/3374781/nasl-sues-us-soccer-directors-over-acting-to-protect-interests

NASL sues U.S. Soccer directors over acting to protect interests

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https://www.si.com/soccer/2018/02/07/planet-futbol-tv-champions-league-us-soccer-election-chelsea

Planet Fútbol TV: Champions League Picks, Chelsea's Woes, U.S. Soccer Election

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http://worldsoccertalk.com/2018/02/07/world-soccer-talk-endorses-eric-wynalda-kyle-martino-ussf-president/

World Soccer Talk endorses Eric Wynalda and Kyle Martino for USSF President

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https://www.sportsjoe.ie/football/david-beckham-reportedly-lining-gary-neville-manager-new-mls-miami-franchise-150112

David Beckham reportedly lining Gary Neville up as manager of new MLS Miami franchise

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https://www.joe.co.uk/sport/david-beckham-lining-gary-neville-up-as-manager-of-new-mls-miami-franchise-161675

David Beckham reportedly lining Gary Neville up as MLS Miami franchise manager

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http://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/five-things-david-beckham-and-miami-fc-should-steal-from-other-local-teams-10053606

Five Ideas David Beckham's MLS Club Should Steal From Miami's Other Teams

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http://www.goal.com/en-sa/news/van-der-weil-professionalism-in-mls-ten-years-ahead-of/qfrnotp9un68162wj5eirf2lg

Van der Wiel: Professionalism in MLS ‘10 years ahead’ of Europe

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https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2018/02/06/mls-becoming-more-enticing-destination-players-says-scottish-pundit

MLS becoming more enticing destination for players, says Scottish pundit

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https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2018/02/07/hamilton-county-commissioners-want-mls-decision-fc-cincinnati-end-february/315325002/

Hamilton County commissioners want MLS decision on FC Cincinnati by the end of February

The Hamilton County commissioners want Major League Soccer to make a decision by the end of this month whether FC Cincinnati will join the league. ...

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https://williamsonsource.com/nashville-sc-sells-inaugural-game/

Nashville SC Sells Out Inaugural Game

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http://www.uslsoccer.com/news_article/show/884391?referrer_id=2349190

Carolina Challenge Cup to Air on beIN Sports

Battery’s historic preseason tournament kicks off on Feb. 17

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https://www.pocket-lint.com/tv/news/disney/143579-disney-s-espn-plus-streaming-service-what-s-the-story-so-far

Disney's ESPN Plus streaming service: What's the story so far?

It still sounds like the service will have tonnes of sports programming on deck, though, with about 10,000 live regional, national, and international games and events a year, including from Major League Baseball, National Hockey League, Major League Soccer, Grand Slam tennis, and college sports. Disney has confirmed you can also buy add-on packages like MLB.TV, NHL.TV, and MLS Live.

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https://ussoccerplayers.com/2018/02/lafc-youtube-tv.html

LAFC and YouTube TV

By Luis Bueno – RIVERSIDE, CA (Feb 7, 2018) US Soccer Players - Los Angeles Football Club has always seemed an interesting venture. With a slew of high-profile deep-pocketed owners, the club’s operations and marketing pathways seemed exciting. Money and a means to gain exposure were always assets in LAFC’s favor. How the club capitalized on them to set itself apart in MLS was always going to be the question.

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http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/article198917239.html

Jeter or Beckham? Who will be the first to bring a title to Miami?

Who will be the first to bring a title to Miami: Derek Jeter and his Marlins or David Beckham and his expansion Major League Soccer franchise?

The question is one for debate since the Marlins are rebuilding and the city’s new soccer team doesn’t begin playing until 2020.

But Jeter, the Marlins’ new CEO, doesn’t sound like he’s willing to risk a bet on the answer.

Speaking Wednesday to a Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce gathering, Jeter was asked whether he would be willing to make a gentleman’s wager with Beckham on which would be the first to raise a championship trophy.

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https://www.courthousenews.com/us-soccer-under-fire-from-desanctioned-minor-league/

US Soccer Under Fire From Desanctioned Minor League

MANHATTAN (CN) – A men’s soccer league that just lost its Division II sanction hit the president of the U.S. Soccer Federation with civil corruption claims Tuesday.

Just days away from a race to elect a successor to federation president Sunil Gulati, the North American Soccer League filed suit in Manhattan Supreme Court against the 58-year-old Gulati and 14 other federation officials.

Represented by the firm Mayer Brown, the league notes that it fell out of grace with the league in late 2017 after six years of stymied opportunities.

“The NASL has long sought to compete for marketing and other business opportunities against the ‘Division I’ Major League Soccer Inc., whose interests defendants have furthered at the expense of and to the detriment of the NASL,” the complaint states. “This overt favoritism towards MLS has directly harmed the NASL and contravened the defendants’ duties to grow and promote soccer on behalf of the USSF membership in general.”

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http://khon2.com/2018/02/07/professional-soccer-returns-to-hawaii/

Professional Soccer Returns to Hawaii

The inaugural Pacific Rim Cup will feature some soccer’s greatest stars at Aloha Stadium!

This morning on Wake Up 2day, Pacific Rim Cup Tournament Director Takehiko Nakamura joined us in studio to talk about the event.

The cup is set for February 8th and 10th at Aloha Stadium and will feature international soccer stars from Japan, Canada and the U.S. going head to head for one championship title.

For the first time in 6 years, professional soccer is returning to the state of Hawaii. The last time that Major League Soccer (MLS) and Japan Professional Football League (J.League) competed in Hawaii was 2012. Hosting a soccer tournament of this caliber helps to position Hawaii as a sports destination and help boost tourism.

The four participating teams are Columbus Crew SC, Vancouver Whitecaps FC, Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo and Iwaki FC. While the Pacific Rim Cup includes teams from the U.S., Canada and Japan, the four participating teams currently have players that represent 23 countries, including the six confederations.

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http://www.fresnobee.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/marek-warszawski/article198923944.html

‘Important name in soccer’ brings instant credibility to Fresno’s USL club

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http://www.fox19.com/story/37452982/commissioners-extend-fc-cincinnati-parking-garage-offer-still-no-word-from-mls

Commissioners extend FC Cincinnati parking garage offer, still no word from MLS

CINCINNATI, OH (FOX19) -

Hamilton County commissioners have extended funding for a possible FC Cincinnati stadium.

The county approved funding for infrastructure improvements at the site of a possible soccer-specific stadium in 2017. However, Major League Soccer has not yet extended an invitation for the club to join the league, so the team has been given an extension for that funding approval through Feb. 28.

The original agreement to build a 1,000-space parking garage at the site of a soccer stadium expired Dec. 31, according to our partners at the Cincinnati Enquirer.

The team has said it would fund the stadium itself, which is estimated to cost around $200 million.

Team president and general manager Jeff Berding took to Twitter on Wednesday and said this:

As we have always stated, FCC is supportive of the MLS expansion process as we hope to join this brilliant, growing League.

FCC has no issues with the process or timing and we have not sought to inject "urgency" into the process.

FCC continues to work productively with MLS. While we know our fans and community are anxious for a resolution, I ask you to bear with us just a little longer while we work to drive this process to what we hope will be a winning conclusion.

In the meantime, we ask our @fccincinnati supporters to avoid conjecture & blame.

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http://www.fox19.com/story/37305660/mls-will-definitely-maybe-have-a-decision-on-fc-cincinnati-by-march

MLS will definitely maybe have a decision on FC Cincinnati by March

CINCINNATI, OH (FOX19) - Is FC Cincinnati about to get an MLS bid? There's a new report that says yes -- it even says when.

"Don't believe anything unless it's from me or MLS," FC Cincinnati's president and general manager Jeff Berding said in a text message this week.

He was responding to a question about a World Soccer Talk report, which cited sources and said the MLS expansion announcement would be made the first week of March. The report says Cincinnati is almost certain to be selected.

Nashville, Cincinnati, Sacramento, and Detroit were recently selected as finalists for two 2020 MLS expansion bids. Late in 2017, Nashville landed one of those bids.

Understand that MLS set a deadline to make the decision by the league's season opener on March 3, so this report is saying MLS won't make the call until that deadline.

There's good and bad there -- you likely don't want to wait long, but he is reporting Cincinnati is getting the bid.

Back to Jeff Berding, who spoke with FOX19 NOW this week and said not to believe anything unless it's from MLS or FC Cincinnati -- he believes they will have an answer before March.

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https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/derek-jeter-marlins-starting-from-a-deeper-hole-than-miami-mls-expansion-team/

Derek Jeter: Marlins starting from a 'deeper hole' than Miami MLS expansion team

Jeter wants everyone to know the Marlins are in trouble

In late January, Major League Soccer officially announced an expansion team was coming to Miami thanks to the efforts of David Beckham, among others.

Predictably, folks have began comparing and contrasting Beckham's acts and comments with those of Miami Marlins owner Derek Jeter. It's a natural reaction given both are now high-ranking officials with Miami teams who were legends during their playing days.

On Wednesday, Jeter weighed in on part of the debate, suggesting Beckham's team is better positioned to win a title than the Marlins -- that despite having no name, employing no players, and not intending to play a game until 2020:

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https://www.reddit.com/r/TampaBayRowdies/comments/7vyt62/raoul_voss_departs_rowdies_for_head_coaching/

Raoul Voss Departs Rowdies For Head Coaching Position at Penn FC (rowdiessoccer.com)

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http://www.rowdiessoccer.com/news_article/show/884357?referrer_id=2824806

Raoul Voss Departs Rowdies For Head Coaching Position

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https://www.reddit.com/r/MLS/comments/7vwskj/new_england_revolution_reveal_new_2018_kit_satire/

New England Revolution Reveal New 2018 Kit [Satire] (davesiknow.com)

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https://davesiknow.com/2018/02/07/breaking-new-england-revolution-reveal-new-2018-kit/

BREAKING: New England Revolution Reveal New 2018 Kit

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http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/news/business/article199022169.html

Ohio officials pressure MLS to decide on FC Cincinnati

CINCINNATI

Ohio county officials are putting the pressure on Major League Soccer to decide whether FC Cincinnati will join the league.

Hamilton County commissioners voted Wednesday to renew an agreement to pay for a 1,000-car garage at the team's future stadium through Feb. 28.

The board's original agreement expired Dec. 31. The agreement was extended at the request of FC Cincinnati, which says it expects to hear from the league before March.

MLS previously said it would select its 25th and 26th teams by the end of 2017. It selected Nashville, Tennessee to take the 25th spot in December, but said it would decide on the final spot next year.

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https://www.local10.com/sports/mlb/marlins/jeter-reaches-out-to-miami-business-leaders

Jeter reaches out to Miami business leaders

Marlins CEO continues to listen to fans

The legendary shortstop was also asked who would win a championship first, he or David Beckham's soccer team.  Jeter said the Marlins were starting from a bigger hole.