That dynamic undercuts the perception of scarcity in the market -- that no matter how many times it sought to increase the number of teams in the league, there are only so many spaces available -- that MLS has crafted so well during its expansion push. That scarcity still exists to a degree, but if you're a billionaire looking to buy an MLS team, the entry price for an existing team is likely to be lower than the rising price tag in Sacramento. All of which puts more of an onus on finding a potential owner with local ties, someone with a vested interest in bringing a team to Sacramento -- even if it costs more than acquiring a team in another city.
And there's a lot of wealth in that part of the world. So I imagine that it would be someone that would value being in close proximity and being able to be close to the franchise they're running. And with the stadium sitting on a acre parcel, and only 14 of that set to be taken up by the stadium, it's possible that the adjacent land could be used for ancillary businesses that a prospective owner might be interested in.
But that person needs to be identified first. All of this has made an already winding path for Sacramento even more so. But the reality is that every other market looking to acquire an MLS team has its challenges, although some are further along than others.
San Diego's expansion hopes were thought to be dead in after a stadium referendum backed by FS Investors was defeated in favor of a competing project supported by San Diego State University. As it stands, the lack of a potential owner would appear to be a major impediment to reviving any kind of expansion bid. But a source with knowledge of the situation said initial discussions have taken place between MLS and SDSU regarding the framework of a deal that would see an MLS expansion team play in 35,seat Aztec Stadium, which is projected to open in September While MLS is reluctant to get into a situation in which one of its team would be a tenant in someone else's stadium, the source floated the possibility of an expansion team being a part-owner of the stadium, or at least having a guarantee that all MLS-related revenues would flow to the team.
Reached by email, Renaissance chairman Floyd Kephart told ESPN that its exclusive negotiating agreement ENA with the city that encompasses the entire development project, including the soccer stadium, is set to expire on April If the city decides to move forward, the entities involved would enter into a Master Development Agreement, which would then clear the way for Baupost to acquire the Lights.
Phoenix is another city that has expressed interest, and the success of USL Championship side Phoenix Rising -- a North American record game winning streak en route to a regular-season title in -- has laid a foundation.
Yet within MLS circles there are concerns about whether the owners have deep-enough pockets, despite consisting of Chinese billionaire Alex Zheng and Chelsea and Ivory Coast goal-scoring legend Didier Drogba.
An appropriately sized stadium is an issue as well. While the team will play in a new, modular 10,capacity stadium at White Horse Pass within the Gila River Indian Community this season, a new venue will have to be built, and the hot weather remains a concern -- as it does in Las Vegas. When asked if a larger, MLS-ready stadium would have to be covered, Dulle said, "We're working through multiple concepts. There are certainly concepts that have a roof structure and there's concepts that have different ways to mitigate the heat.
There is also the chance a new city could enter the competition. Two new USL Championship stadiums on tap for New Queensboro FC stadium plan unveiled. Search Soccer Stadium Digest. Latest Popular Tags. About August Publications August Publications is a Middleton, Wisconsin-based publisher of websites and books aimed at the sports-business and active-living markets. Learn more at August Publications. Teams in St. Louis and Sacramento will join the year after, further growing the national footprint of the league, which will look like this when the league reaches 30 teams:.
Investors across the nation continue to line up willing to pay increasing expansion fees, and that does not figure to stop any time soon. Surely because the league does not intend to stop. Not when there are more prospective owners out there ready to cough up a pretty penny to gain entry into the league.
Why would we make any comments about what the future might look like? Anyone who has closely followed MLS expansion during the past decade has heard Garber issue similar statements on multiple occasions, and yet the league has continued to grow at a dizzying pace. Here are the candidates SBI thinks are most likely to land the next two expansion sides in order of probability:.
Just looking at the national footprint of the league in the map above, there is a sizable gap between the west coast and Texas that MLS surely wants to fill in the same way it just did with Charlotte in the southeast. The Las Vegas Lights of the USL are currently the only pro soccer team in town, but owner Brett Lashbrook has agreed to sell the club if and when the time comes for a move up the food chain.
The other team Garber recently said MLS is still talking to, Phoenix is another prime candidate to help fill that aforementioned empty space out west. Phoenix can also give the state of Arizona a first division soccer team to rally around much in the mold of Charlotte in the Carolinas.
Construction for the venue is said to be privately financed. An MLS expansion team may already have been given to Detroit were it not for a change of plans in regards to its stadium.
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