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EDITORS NOTE: Special thanks to all who wrote in referring us to this article. As luck would have it we were wrapped up in meetings all day so could not get around to posting it until now. Feel free to discuss at length.
According to this article MLS may add as many as 6 new clubs by 2011. This would seem to confirm something Shep Messing said a year ago on Glenn Davis's radio show where he claimed MLS was preparing to grow to 20 club by 2010. It should also be noted that Messing mentioned at the very end that the second NYC will be likely owned and operated by the NY Mets organization, headed by Fred Wilpon.
Here is the audio of that converstion:
As for today's article and perhaps tomorrow's announcement:
Here's an excerpt:
"According to a Vancouver radio station, Toronto FC may soon be getting some Canadian company in the MLS.
The TEAM 1040 is reporting that MLS Comissioner Don Garber will lift the original ceiling of 18 franchises and announce Thursday a new expansion plan of not less than 20 and up to 24 franchises by 2013-2014.
The current 14-team loop will expand to 16 teams by 2010 (Seattle in 2009 and Philadelphia in 2010) and then add up to four teams in 2011 and at least two more by 2013-2014."
We are not sure what (if any) effect this might have on the rumors of MLS going to a single-table in 2010.
Noooo! 1 table, 20 teams, Play each team once home and once away.
What's next? Breakaway shoot-outs to settle ties????
18-20 Teams would have never worked in the U.S. anyway without a good relegation/promotion system, which was never ever going to happen. There are too many places that could and should get teams and the U.S. is way bigger and has more people than most of the FIFA countries that have 20 team limits...it just never made since to stop arbitrarily there and so I think this is a good move. No reason to hamstring yourself and prevent the growth of the league, just don't go all NHL on it!
With 24 clubs, couldn't a relegation system be used? 8/16, 10/14 or 12/12?
24 teams is STUPID.
18 maximum. Then focus on some sort of promotion/relegation system (possibly with USL).. like that you get never ending "expansion"!
NASL anyone?
This is ridiculous....
20 teams should be the maximum for MLS. The current formula of one new team per year is the best course of action. Remember that the league contracted from 12 to 10 teams in 2002. A promotion & relegation system might work for the USL, but right now it would be a mistake for MLS. The league is still too young to be thinking that big.
Having 24 teams is too many, too fast! Where are the 20-25 players per team going to come from? I could see having another 2-4 teams join MLS by 2012, but not 10 more teams in the matter of 6 years.
18 by 2010 would be very doible. You will already have 16. Montreal just needs to expand their stadium and St Louis has stadium plans already.
Fantastic news .Great garber and MLS !!!!!!
Go New York City !!!!
I want a promotion/relegation and a club to route for in Wisconsin. I'd support it, but I'm not sure that it makes good business sense. It would grow the sport and improve the US footballers to come.
oh well, i thought MLS might know what theyre doing. guess not. awe well i can always go watch a league that i feel is real football if it comes down to it.
either raise dramatically or eliminate cap! balenced schedule! and buy out USL 1 and 2 and give them and the a like 8 year buffer and then introduce Pro/Rel. In the meantime, sell of franchise in USL and wait for rich owners to flock in with hopes of promotion.
i think its doable, if this league goes to 24, thats just stupid.
just dont put one in hawaii, they barely drew 15,000 at a beckam match, wont work
The best course of action is for MLS to expand to 18 teams and stop expanding for about 3-5 years. Allowing the new MLS teams to establish their fan bases.
Meanwhile cities that didn't make the cut but want MLS teams can use the moratorium to form stadium and franchise plans. Once 6-10 cities have these plans in place you expand by creating MLS-2. If MLS-2 has less than 10 teams then they play as two separate leagues until MLS-2 has 10 teams. Once that happens promote/relegate one team. Expand MLS-2 once it hits 14 teams promote/demote 2 teams,and when it hits 18 you do 3 teams.
After that if you want 2, 20 team leagues you promote two teams,and relegate none one year giving you 4 MLS-2 spots to fill. Then if desired add USL as the 3rd division and lower.
all the relegation fans, it's NOT going to happen, EVER. Makes absolutely no sense from an economic standpoint and whether you believe it or not, the owners are not in it for the fun of it.
20 should be the limit but really more importantly is raising the pathetic cap and building the youth academy infrastructure
24 team with a 2.3 mil cap. Yeah someone needs to tell Don Garber to wake up.
20 should be the cap, and they should continue to bring 1 team in a year...
as others have pointed out, where are these players going to come from??? if this is rushed, we are not only going to be creating loads of weaker teams (expansions) but we are going to severely weaken our already weak depth....
if they bring in 6 teams by 2011, thats 6 of our best reserves being snatched up.....
simply put we are going to spread ourselves out too thin and weaken our already low stance in the world's eye... we'd be taking steps back, not forward.... if we expand, we need to expand at a slow rate...
Don Garber:should be knighted as " Garber The Great"
Garber the Great. Is the man fools !!
theres no way we could last without relegation. this isnt hockey. creating more teams for the mls gives better teams for mls-2, and helps to ensure the leagues longevity.