G'day tribe! A few months back I posted on the favorite MLS expansion teams. Since then San Diego was awarded with the 30th franchise and are set to become the 30th team in the league in 2025. Here are four more teams that could become the next MLS expansion team cities.
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10. San Antonio
Is Texas big enough for a fourth team? Austin ultimately joined Dallas and Houston as teams from the Lone Star state but San Antonio still remains a strong candidate to host the next MLS team. The city has a large and passionate soccer fan base and San Antonio FC attracts large USL Championship crowds.
San Antonio FC plays out of Toyota Field which could be expanded to more than 18,000 seats. A team wouldn't have a shortage of nearby rivals and the city's growing population would give the team an ever-growing audience.
9. Birmingham
Legion FC represents the city of Birmingham in the USL Championship and they defeated Charlotte FC in the 2023 US Open Cup to reach the quarterfinals. They faced Inter Miami infront of a record Birmingham crowd of 18,418 at Protective Stadium in a narrow 1-0 loss.
Birmingham is one of only a few large metro areas in the United States without a major league sports team so an MLS team could potentially thrive in the city.
8. Detroit
Serious talks to bring an MLS expansion team to Detroit began in 2011 and they currently have Detroit City FC playing in the USL Championship. A 2020 bid was overlooked because of the ownership groups reluctance to build a soccer-specific stadium with plans to use Ford Field instead.
Detroit is a big city with many immigrants of Eastern European and Middle Eastern backgrounds who love their soccer. Such a passionate and diverse fan base in a major sports market is something potential cashed up owners will be interested in.
7. Indianapolis
Indy Eleven is one of the most well supported USL Championship teams and is why an MLS expansion team in Indianapolis is a possibility. Indianapolis has an enthusiastic soccer community and would no doubt create strong rivalries with fans from Cincinnati and Columbus.
The “Eleven Park” precinct which will include a 20,000-seat stadium and include office and residential spaces will certainly keep the door open for MLS expansion into downtown Indianapolis.
The Indy Eleven just announced plans for a $1 billion stadium downtown.
It’ll break ground in May and complete in 2025. Eleven Park will include a hotel, restaurants, retail spaces, and the 20,000 seat stadium. pic.twitter.com/Muy2Vx9Bji — Barstool Indy () February 18, 2023
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Founded in 2020, I turned my lifelong passion for sport into WolfgangSport.com. As an Australian, I've always been fascinated with the cultural differences and global significance of sports in America so I started writing about topics on the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, MLS and more. Beyond these topics my vision with WolfgangSport.com is continuing to innovate by expanding exposure into developing technologies such as Web3 platforms as I explore elevating user experiences for readers.