Is it just me or do you get the feeling that The Don (Garber) has already picked the expansion cities and is just dragging his heels so that the sweetest cherries have more time to get their house in order? I think that it is pretty evident that the next two cities on the expansion list are Philly and Seattle. Unfortunately, Saint Louis is only second runner up in case one of the other two choke on their pit.
Case in Point, Saint Louis has everything MLS says they need; ownership group with 30 million (check); SSS developement in place and ready to go (check); strong soccer community (check). So why are Saint Louis investors being so coy about this presumably golden ticket? Because MLS is putting them off until they know Philly or Seattle can't do a deal! Seattle is planning on using the Seahawk stadium with no talk of a SSS in the mix - Paul Allen would be a part owner on the strength of his opening up the stadium (on artificial turf - see previous post). That's supposedly a non-starter if you want a valuable MLS franchise. And in Philly, MLS is waiting on government approval that is not guarenteed.
I will wait until MLS Cup - when Garber typically makes the big announcements - to see if I'm right. Either he will announce that Seattle and Philly are the next contestants or he will continue to say that everyone is in the mix - including my hometown of Phoenix - even though Saint Louis should be getting a green light...
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2 comments:
You're right. But this says two things to me. 1. Money Talks. Big time. So if PHX can get a big $ ownership team, we can get MLS even w/out a SSS. Artie Moreno and Steve Nash at Cardinals Stadium anyone? Sign me up.
2. St. Louis must have something wrong because their stadium presentation looks amazing --what more could MLS possibly want?
They Philly and Seattle. Period...
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