MLS hopes to announce league’s 30th team by end of 2023, commissioner says

A 30th MLS team will hopefully be “announced by the end of the year,” league commissioner Don Garber told reporters Wednesday at a season kickoff event. Here’s what you need to know:

• The most likely cities for an MLS expansion team are Las Vegas and San Diego, Garber said.
• With St. Louis City SC starting this season, 2023 will mark the seventh straight year the league has expanded, adding nine new teams since 2019.
• Garber added that he is open to the possibility of expanding past 30 teams in the years to come.

What Garber said

Garber on the growth of the league: “I can remember back in the day, you had 12 teams and said, ‘Man, are we ever going to get to 14?’ And then you do the work and you bring in great partners and you build great stadiums and get the community involved and here we are with team 29.”

On the possibility of more than 30: “That 30th team will come at some point soon. Hopefully for media people … we would like to get that announced by the end of the year. Never thought we’d be at 28, never thought we’d be at 29, we say we’re going to stop at 30 but the other major leagues are larger than that. I don’t ever say never. In Major League Soccer, there are many other markets that are opportunities for us.”

On other possible cities: “I think San Diego and Las Vegas are the most likely opportunities for 30 But we don’t have a team in Phoenix, we don’t have a team in Sacramento, we don’t have a team in Detroit; all big markets in our country. You know, you never know. Tampa is another big city. Soccer is exploding professionally everywhere on the on the professional side and the men’s and women’s side.”

Is it a surprise Las Vegas and San Diego are earmarked for the 30th team?

Ever since Sacramento had its berth revoked following Ron Burkle’s failure to sign the expansion agreement in January 2021, the two cities have been clear front-runners to make a like-for-like Western entry. Las Vegas seemed to be the early favorite in the immediate aftermath given the success of the Vegas Golden Knights and Las Vegas Raiders’ entry into the market.

However, Golden Knights owner Bill Foley shifted his interest from investing in MLS to taking over Premier League club AFC Bournemouth in a move which he called “a bargain” compared to MLS’s entry fees. While MLS already has three clubs in California, it was ready to welcome a fourth in Sacramento, making San Diego a more viable proposition as a result. — Rueter

Why has MLS expanded so much quicker than other American leagues?

If there’s a willing buyer to be found …

MLS struggled to build a footprint through its first decade, having to contract a pair of clubs in Florida to consolidate as a ten-team league before expanding again in 2005 with Real Salt Lake and Chivas USA. The league added a team per year from 2007 to 2010 before the real goldrush of expansion began. Since 2011 (when Portland and Vancouver brought the league to 18 teams), MLS has added another 12 new members, with Chivas USA folding in 2014 and St. Louis City kicking off this weekend as its 29th active franchise.

You’ve heard it by now, but American interest in soccer continues to skyrocket compared to other sports. From new clubs in leagues like MLS, the NWSL and the lower-division USL to heightened interest in fictional programming (hello, Emmy-winning ‘Ted Lasso’) as well as the non-fictional alternative (up the city, Wrexham), both shrewd investors and celebrities alike have wanted to get in on having at least a portion of a soccer club. It’s no surprise, then, to hear that a 30th team is imminent — and may not be the end, as sources in MLS have speculated an inevitable growth to 32 teams for a couple of years now. — Rueter

Which other cities could realistically be in play?

As fans in Rochester and Sacramento will tell you, being name-checked by Garber isn’t a guarantee of eventual entry. Still, there’s logic behind the shoutouts for Detroit, Phoenix and Tampa in today’s address. Detroit was among the finalists for a club in 2016, but fell short of the pack when ownership wanted to play in Ford Field rather than build a soccer-specific stadium.

Phoenix and Tampa have been among the best-followed and best-run clubs in the second-division for half a decade running, a CV point which helped lead MLS to launch in mid-sized markets like Orlando, Saint Paul, Cincinnati and Nashville in recent years. In 2020, the mayor of Louisville teased talks with MLS about bringing its USL club — which has a state-of-the-art 15,000+ seat stadium and an NWSL club, Racing Louisville — to the first division. If MLS grows to 32 teams, it’s a safe bet that at least one of these markets, if not two, would fill out the numbers. — Rueter