Pounder
07-23-2008, 05:02 PM
http://www.tsn.ca/soccer/story/?id=244189&lid=headline&lpos=topStory_soccer
St. Louis has the stadium all but secured... just waiting on ownership to get their affairs in order.
Montreal and Vancouver perhaps have inside tracks.
Portland is just a couple city council commitments away.
Others we've heard from lately that seem solid: Atlanta, New York.
Today's surprise addition: Ottawa.
Wavering in the yes/no zone: Las Vegas, Miami.
Whisper campaigns: San Diego, Sacramento.
NOTE: Full quote from Don Garber below, which "dampens" TSN / Team 1040's timetable:
"At our board meeting tomorrow, we will review a very comprehensive expansion plan that will really outline our plan for the next two expansion rounds. Our near-term goal is to have 18 teams in the league in the next couple of years. I've said many times and want to reitierate again today and continue to say, we're in no rush to expand, we don't need to expand. We want to expand if we can have the right owner, the right facility, play in the right market, and the right fan support. And, very, very importantly, we must ensure that our league carefully manages this growth in the context of ensuring that our player quality continues to improve and that our teams and league can manage all this growth with real focus.
We're continuing discussions at a variety of levels with the following US markets, in alphabetical order: Atlanta, Las Vegas, Miami, a second team in New York, Portland and St. Louis. In addition, we're speaking with multiple Canadian markets about future expansion: Montreal, Ottawa and Vancouver."
St. Louis has the stadium all but secured... just waiting on ownership to get their affairs in order.
Montreal and Vancouver perhaps have inside tracks.
Portland is just a couple city council commitments away.
Others we've heard from lately that seem solid: Atlanta, New York.
Today's surprise addition: Ottawa.
Wavering in the yes/no zone: Las Vegas, Miami.
Whisper campaigns: San Diego, Sacramento.
NOTE: Full quote from Don Garber below, which "dampens" TSN / Team 1040's timetable:
"At our board meeting tomorrow, we will review a very comprehensive expansion plan that will really outline our plan for the next two expansion rounds. Our near-term goal is to have 18 teams in the league in the next couple of years. I've said many times and want to reitierate again today and continue to say, we're in no rush to expand, we don't need to expand. We want to expand if we can have the right owner, the right facility, play in the right market, and the right fan support. And, very, very importantly, we must ensure that our league carefully manages this growth in the context of ensuring that our player quality continues to improve and that our teams and league can manage all this growth with real focus.
We're continuing discussions at a variety of levels with the following US markets, in alphabetical order: Atlanta, Las Vegas, Miami, a second team in New York, Portland and St. Louis. In addition, we're speaking with multiple Canadian markets about future expansion: Montreal, Ottawa and Vancouver."