I saw this in the spring training media guide on mlsnet.com. we have known about some of these cities, but where did charlotte, sacramento, winston-salem come from?
I also find it interesting that some previously mentioned cities are not listed here. Can we assume that because Cleveland, Okla City and Tulsa are not listed that they are out of the running? No, just as we cannot assume that because Charlotte and Sacramento are listed that they are front runners. I think that the media guide is simply a PR tool and MLS wanted to tell people that they are wanted.
keep this in mind when reading the guide, keep in mind that it is in a way propaganda for the media...so they want to give MLS the best possible angle by saying that all of these cities have "Expressed interest" in an MLS franchise...things like these are generally put together by the PR department.... i had heard about sacramento, but that was a loooong time ago...it appears the owners of the Kings (NBA) also own an indoor soccer franchise...and were interested in an MLS team... if i were you, i would not take the information in the guide regarding expansion seriously. as i read the information on each team, they made each team sound like the possible 2003 MLS cup winner, (except colorado, i think) once again propaganda... sincerely, iowa007
Unless I'm mistaken, that particular list of cities comes verbatim from a portion of the MLS website that hasn't been updated in about 18 months. It's ancient, and not at all accurate, "news."
I'm sure the media guide has some interesting and accurate information in it. You merely need to figure out what part is interesting, which part is accurate, and which part is both. I'd guess that statement was just pulled from some PR from last year. It doesn't include the current hot candidates.
I find it aggravating to string the fans along like this. OTOH, I suspect MLS does this because they want to create competition for new investors and expansion opportunities. If they can actually sucker errrrrr convince someone to pay $25 million for a new entry based on perceived demand, it's money to the current owners. Pertinent question is whether the league is just high-profile enough that potential investors truly do know the score.
Sacramento? That's interesting. While Sacramento is a town that is very loyal to its sporting franchises, I never thought it was a soccer town. In terms of its culture it is more like the midwest than it is like San Francisco (despite its geographical location.) I never could have imagined Sacramento having the local support to have more than an A-League team, but then again they are always desperate for top sports teams (their bid to get the Oakland A's for example) and they are a growing city...
Like I said earlier on this thread, that list of cities is about 1 1/2 - 2 years old. It's ancient. Ignore it.
The latest list from report of press event held Monday, 10 March 2003, at Boyd Anderson High School, Fort Lauderdale, Florida: "Garber said the next round of MLS expansion would likely come in 2005, with two cities added from among the following group: Cleveland, Minneapolis, Houston, Philadelphia, Seattle, Rochester, Tulsa and Oklahoma City." http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/soccer/sfl-rusnak09mar09,0,2280142.column?coll=sfla-sports-soccer