MLS Commissioner Says St. Louis Close To Securing Expansion Team

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https://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Daily/Issues/2019/03/12/Leagues-and-Governing-Bodies/MLS-STL.aspx

MLS Commissioner Says St. Louis Close To Securing Expansion Team

MLS wants St. Louis to secure corporate sponsorships to prove that the market can support a team Photo: HOK MLS Commissioner Don Garber said that a St. Louis-based ownership group is "just steps away from securing an expansion team ," according to a front-page piece by David Hunn of the ...

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https://www.stltoday.com/sports/soccer/major-league-soccer-says-other-cities-will-have-to-wait/article_e30ee7e6-0761-53b7-b2de-0adc8b6226ad.html

Major League Soccer says other cities will have to wait behind St. Louis and Sacramento for teams

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https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/2019/03/12/mls-expansion-may-leave-indy-eleven-out-cold/3143151002/

Indy Eleven not on MLS expansion short list at the moment

Indy Eleven's hope of being included in Major League Soccer expansion appears to have been dealt a blow. And with it, the team's goal of a new $150 million soccer-specific stadium.

Last month, the Indiana General Assembly altered the Indy Eleven's initial $150 million stadium proposal to require the team to enter into a 25-year agreement with MLS by 2022.

MLS commissioner Don Garber told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Tuesday that St. Louis and Sacramento are the two markets atop the the league's expansion wish list.

“Those are cities that, should we ever decide to expand beyond 28 (teams), would have to be considered as part of a next round,” Garber told the Post-Dispatch.

After that, Garber named Charlotte, Las Vegas and Phoenix as options for further expansion.

MLS has not responded to IndyStar's request for additional expansion information.

Eleven team majority owner Ersal Ozdemir, who owns development company Keystone Group, proposed a project called Eleven Park that would include the $150 million stadium and $400 million in restaurants, stores, offices and apartments in the Indianapolis area. But the requirement for MLS expansion appears to have thrown a wrench in the plans.

Indianapolis was among the 10 candidates for expansion in 2017, but missed the cut down to the four finalists, which were Detroit, Cincinnati, Nashville and Sacramento. Cincinnati began MLS play this month and Nashville will join the league next season.

Miami (2020) and Austin (2021) have also been granted MLS franchises.

Any MLS expansion would also require a fee of at least $150 million from the team.

Steven Goff, soccer writer for the Washington Post, said having a strong ownership group and stadium plan are two of the major requirements to get into the MLS as an expansion team.

"The big thing is they got to have the money," Goff said. "The expansion fee is what fuels the league in a large sense. They collect money from TV rights and sponsorships obviously, but expansion fees are a big part of it."

In an interview with Sports Illustrated on Feb. 19, Garber said there was no "specific timetable" to announce the 28th team, and it was more pressing to get Cincinnati, Miami  and Nashville settled first. He said the league would consider further expansion next year.

The Eleven opened their second season in the USL Championship this past weekend with a 2-1 loss at Saint Louis FC.

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https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/local/business-journal/mls-commissioner-visits-st-louis-as-mls4thelou-makes-its-pitch/63-06ad4cfd-d0d0-4d83-b79a-e2d3829be42d

MLS Commissioner visits St. Louis as #MLS4THELOU makes its pitch

Don Garber hears from the Taylor family and a roundtable of business leaders making the case for how a MLS franchise would benefit the region

ST. LOUIS — Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber on Monday visited St. Louis, meeting with members of the ownership group seeking to bring an expansion team to the city.

The ownership group, #MLS4THELOU, said in a statement that Garber spent time with Carolyn Kindle Betz, who leads the St. Louis ownership group and is president of the Enterprise Holdings Foundation, and Enterprise Holdings Chairman Andy Taylor, as well as other members of the Taylor family included in the investor group.

He also met with a group of local business executives in a “roundtable setting,” where the commissioner and attendees discussed how an MLS team would benefit the region, according to #MLS4THELOU’s statement. A spokeswoman for the group declined to identify the local business executives at the meeting Monday.

RELATED STORY: Drink beer, watch soccer, and help bring the MLS to St. Louis

"It was one of the best showings of corporate C-level executives in all of the time we’ve been going through this expansion process,” Garber said in a video statement distributed by #MLS4THELOU.

Owners of the MLS team would be the Jim Kavanaugh and Taylor families, including seven female members of the Taylor family as well Andy Taylor. Kavanaugh is CEO of World Wide Technology. The group would be the first in the league’s history to be majority-owned by women.

“We’re incredibly pleased with how today’s visit went,” Kindle Betz said in a statement. “I know we put our best foot forward by demonstrating our strong commitment to securing a team for St. Louis as we were able to show Commissioner Garber some of the enthusiasm the local business community has to financially support a MLS team.”

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https://www.socceramerica.com/publications/article/81608/fan-violence-and-the-dangers-of-encouraging-passio.html

Fan violence and the dangers of encouraging passion

While MLS Commissioner Don Garber has been getting himself into trouble for not being tough enough in his condemnation of neo-Nazis -- criticism ...

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https://www.forbes.com/sites/rayglier/2019/03/12/atlanta-stadium-may-face-some-pushback-over-cashless-policy/#3d561e44709d

Atlanta Stadium May Face Some Pushback Over Cashless Policy

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https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/soccer/fc-cincinnati/2019/03/12/fc-cincinnati-home-schedule-new-concession-options-nippert-stadium-mls-2019-season-portland-timbers/3142538002/

Here are new food, beverage options at Nippert Stadium for FC Cincinnati's 2019 MLS season

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https://local12.com/news/local/nippert-stadium-being-transformed-into-fc-cincinnatis-home-pitch-for-inaugural-mls-season

Nippert Stadium being transformed into FC Cincinnati's home pitch for inaugural MLS season

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https://www.law360.com/competition/articles/1137924/league-demands-us-soccer-turn-in-division-talk-transcripts

League Demands US Soccer Turn In Division Talk Transcripts

Law360 (March 12, 2019, 6:43 PM EDT) -- The U.S. Soccer Federation should be forced to fork over unredacted transcripts from a recent board meeting where the North American Soccer League’s division status was discussed, the New York federal...

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http://www.wmcactionnews5.com/2019/03/12/memphis-fc-helps-usl-post-record-attendance-opening-weekend/

Memphis 901 FC helps USL post record attendance for opening weekend

MEMPHIS, TN (WMC) - Memphis 901 FC was a key contributor to a huge opening weekend for the United Soccer League Championship Division.

901 FC posted the 4th largest crowd in the league for its home opener Saturday night, with an announced sellout of 8,062 at AutoZone Park.

Another Newcomer, New Mexico United of Albuquerque, had the largest crowd of almost 13,000.

The league-wide total of more than 91,000 for 17 matches is up 9 percent over last season.

Nashvillie’s entry comes in 8th for its opener with 5,356.

Memphis 901 FC’s next match is Saturday at 7 p.m. against Loudon United of Virginia.

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https://www.reddit.com/r/TampaBayRowdies/comments/b03h2r/stadium_upgrade/

Stadium upgrade

Hey y’all Atlanta fan and local here. I was just wondering if they ever approved of that expansion for Al Lang or if it fell apart after the rays bought the team.

The #MLS2StPete Al Lang proposal was approved by St. Pete voters with an 87% yes vote 2 years ago.

At this point, if the Rowdies get into MLS, a lot will depend on how the Rays stadium situation turns out.

If the Rays move to a new stadium in Tampa, or move out of the TBA altogether, the Tropicana Field option might open up and make that location financially attractive to MLS due to land redevelopment rights.

Otherwise, the Al Lang site is still an option; I don't know if they would require a new vote or not if MLS wants a different stadium deal - for example tearing down the existing Al Lang Stadium and building a totally new SSS with a proper north-south pitch reorientation (which would make for a much better MLS SSS, IMO).

Without MLS, a smaller Al Lang expansion could also be possible, without an extended lease, and I imagine that might be possible if the new Rays ownership starts getting consistent Rowdies home game sellouts at Al Lang.

It was approved, but on the condition that the club moves to MLS. Rays could go back to voters with a new design, Edwards had a scaled down expansion worked up, but that's down the road, if ever

I think a lot of people would love to see an expansion to like 10k seats total (basically, filling out the far sideline, currently called midfield), but there’s no official word from the team that any plan is in place to do it. But imo in a post MLS chances rowdies, that’s most likely, plus with the increased visibility and marketing the rays can give us, hopefully attendance trends towards more sellouts this year and show demand is there for expansion.

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https://www.reddit.com/r/TampaBayRowdies/comments/b09hlm/three_things_memphis_0_1_rowdies/

Three Things: Memphis 0 - 1 Rowdies

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https://www.rowdiessoccer.com/news_article/show/1002846

THREE THINGS: MEMPHIS 0 - 1 ROWDIES