Groups in Las Vegas, Phoenix and San Diego want a franchise.
Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber may be filling the missing logo on the league’s website soon. The missing logo is that of the Sacramento expansion franchise that was supposed to start play in 2023. It appears the league has realized there is no white knight ready to rescue the franchise after Ron Burkle, the major financial backer of the business, pulled his money and support from the franchise. Officially the bid is not dead but vultures are flying around and one of them is ready to step in to fill that void somewhere else. The somewhere else could be Las Vegas which is a very small market with limited financial wherewithal. Garber is gushing over Las Vegas. The National Basketball Association’s Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Wes Edens is pursuing an expansion franchise. The league is also checking out Phoenix and San Diego as possible expansion franchise sites. Major League Baseball’s Oakland Athletics’ ownerships possible relocation to Las Vegas will have no impact on the MLS expansion decision
In 2017, MLS owners decided to add four teams to its group. The expansion process has been slow and hit some obstacles with the Sacramento group being the latest problem. The MLS hatched a plan to find four ownership groups that could own MLS expansion teams around the United States. The league received interest from 12 cities presumably with owners who could foot the bill for a team. The hope was to award two expansion franchises by the end of 2017 and two more in 2018. The expansion process did not go as planned and just three cities Austin, Cincinnati and Nashville had the right stuff to get teams #25, #26 and #27. St. Louis and Sacramento got franchises #28 and #29. Charlotte was given slot #30. Major League Soccer wants 30 teams, but finding #30 has been a problem.
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