6 cities you would like MLS to expand: 5 U.S. & 1 Canada.?

Oh yeah it is slightly more east isn't it. Marginally, though it puts them closer to the Northeast

 

You can leave Canada out of it.

Garber was clear that there will be no expansion in Canada and the CSA will block any attempts for a club to join MLS

 

San Diego
Tampa Bay
San Antonio
Sacramento
Cincinnati
ST Louis (yes I know)

 

or think they are still under water

 

And don't be surprised if the favor is returned in one form or another. It's about time, really.

 

Actually, we're counting on it. Best case scenario would be for MLS to be only American cities while CPL would be all Canadians.

 

Ottawa would be a good choice

 

The only 'choices' in Canada are Calgary, Edmonton, and Ottawa. Each are half the size of MLS's smallest markets at present, so they're not desirable on their own, and the league feels like it has Canada covered by the three teams it has now: one for Ontario, one for Quebec, and one for the western provinces. MLS wants expansion to fill in some of the American cities of significant size that remain--there are over a dozen urban areas of over 2M people without MLS teams. The Canadian teams in MLS don't want to split their national fan base four ways instead of three without significantly growing the pie overall. The CSA has had some friction with MLS and are currently building their own pro league; they're not interested in giving up one of the markets that could be a cornerstone for the CPL.

 

I personally agree, and I think that most knowledgeable Canadians would agree. Canada is finally starting up it's own league and does so having already "lost" it's three biggest markets. Let's not continue to cannibalize what they need to build their national team,... a true domestic league. Besides which, the markets that MLS included from Canada already were no-brainers, two of whom already had top-notch operations in place and the third was located in it's biggest and most influential market which has teams in 3 of the 4 biggest North American sports leagues.

 

Also, where's Sacramento on this list? I only voted for five bc I reserve my sixth choice to be Sac City Reps. That said, my official list is as follows:

East
Indy 11
FC Cincy
Charlotte or *Raleigh (Leaning towards Raleigh for the history they've put into the sport in this country. I'm not a nativist fan who hates Euro names, but I do wish Raleigh would go back to the Railhawks nickname which I think was good, had history and was not overly cheesy like alot of the NA style nicknames which have been dropped by MLS teams in the past. Both serve as rivals in the expanding Southeast.)

West
Sac City Reps
Phoenix (already have a stadium and are ready to expand. Huge regional hole covered thereby expanding MLS' footprint significantly and bridging rivalries can be formed in Utah, Colorado and Texas. Drogba beating Beckham into the league's ownership ranks is nice bc I'm a HUGE Drogba fan. Owner seems to be motivated to compete and make a big splash in this league much like Orlando's ownership.)
San Antonio Spurs (what NBA franchise has ever scouted and built on the fly like they do. Me and a friend from work who doesn't follow soccer were talking about the Spurs and I pointed out that they operate like a soccer team; they scout and develop players with star potential rather than simply sit on/stockpile draft picks and hope for the best or try to buy the biggest free agent available.)

 

Lost? Those 3 will have a CPL franchise at some point, which is pissing off TFC beyond belief. They are big enough for more than 1 club

 

I have stated on the CPL thread that this (placing teams in those cities) was plausible and should be done by CPL, but they won't own those markets in the manner that most D1 leagues own their biggest markets. CPL may have teams there but I doubt that they will ever equal the MLS teams in terms of support or money. In that way, they have lost them. Perhaps that wording is too strong. Cardiff, for example, has several football teams in the Welsh League, but none of them approach the stature of Cardiff City who is merely in the Championship of England.

This is all okay, however. It doesn't mean that the CPL will be a failure. It doesn't have to beat the MLS Canadian teams to succeed, it simply has to succeed as a league in it's own right.

 

We'll see

 

yeah they will be Brentford FC, Charlton Athletic or Leynet Orient to TFC's Tottenham Hotspur

Bury F.C. or Oldham Athletic A.F.C. to Montreal Impact's Manchester City

Preston North End or Blackpool to Vancouver's Everton

 

You're overated those 3 quite a bit don't you think?

 

not at all since they actually exist, play games and are the biggest baddest teams in each city.

 

I was just making the point that those 3 city can easily have 2 clubs and Toronto, even 3. Hard not to be the "biggest, baddest" team when you're the only one in town...for now

 

in the US would like to see Detroit (close to TFC) St Louis(losing the NFL, would really kick start a mls team)
SanDiego ( same reason as St Louis) Cincinnati and Tampa Bay

in Canada, the best option would be Ottawa....a good rival for TFC and Montreal/

 

I would say that National TV coverage is waaay more important than you're making out. That's what makes the region that the team is located in so important. Even given Atl United's support, it was the fact that they were smack dab in the untapped South that made them a must. Expanding the TV market is probably the most important piece of business for MLS because the next TV contract has to be another win in order to keep growing the league. It's the biggest reason for MLS expansion aside from the expansion fees. Gameday revenue is nice, but for the league to truly improve in quality and value, the TV contract needs to at least double and possibly triple when it's up again. And that requires probably doubling their current ratings by that time.

 

I can't see the next MLS TV contract being worth triple its current value, especially considering the amount of cord-cutting that's going on right now. But I could see a $200M annual payment, which would go a long way to covering player salaries.

 

Orient - Tottenham I can let you have.
Brentford - Chelsea
Charlton - no-one really.

Manchester United.

Everton? Bolton Wanderers have been the traditional dominant team from that area but you'll probably see more Manchester United and Liverpool shirts than anything else.

 

MLS wants a combination of prestigious names and big media markets, which is why they are going to give Miami, St Louis, Detroit, San Diego and Phoenix a lot more time.
Tampa has a bigger media market than Miami and Cleveland a bigger market than San Diego but when you put a game on ESPN who are people more likely to tune into?
The only way Cincinnati is going to get into MLS is if someone offers to build the Crew a stadium there.

 

CSA won't allow that. There's a ban on teams joining USSF leagues in Canada. After USL, Fury can either upgrade and join CPL or fall into irrelevancy. It's their choice

 

So do you think Edmonton has a chance then?