Sporting News

Sacramento, San Antonio join fight for MLS expansion team

MLS commissioner Don Garber has long stated his preference to place a 20th MLS franchise in New York City with the lone, but significant, caveat being a new stadium.

With prospective owners of a New York franchise struggling to secure stadium financing, Sacramento and San Antonio city officials are making moves to intercept any Big Apple bid and bring an MLS expansion team to their town.

Don Garber is watching the scramble for the 20th MLS franchise. (AP Photo)

The Montreal Impact recently became MLS' 19th franchise and will begin play in 2012. And potential suitors for the 20th MLS club are sprouting up across the U.S. Previously, potential owners in Las Vegas, Minneapolis-St. Paul and Detroit have expressed an interest in becoming the New York alternative for the 20th team. Now, add two more groups to the mix.

In Sacramento, U.S. Soccer board of directors member Fabian Núñez, a former California state assembly speaker, is leading a group that is exploring the possibility of building a soccer stadium in the Sacramento suburb of Elk Grove.

"I wouldn't characterize it as a long shot, but it's an endeavor that's in its infancy," Sacramento attorney Dick Hyde, who was part of a group that tried to bring the MLS to Sacramento a decade ago, told the Sacramento Bee. "I think Elk Grove is probably a really good spot for soccer."

In San Antonio, the independent school district trustees on Wednesday are expected to vote to remove a tract of land from Alamo Stadium to create space for a soccer-only stadium. That would clear the way for a partnership with Spurs Sports & Entertainment, which is leading the charge to bring professional soccer to San Antonio.

Garber has said there is no timetable for adding a 20th club. Still, New York is Plan A and Garber has said the league would only consider alternative cities should a soccer-only stadium in NYC become an impossibility.

Any new ownership group must have deep pockets. The most recent MLS stadiums to come on line have cost north of $100 million, and expansion fees for the 20th club are expected to perhaps double the $40 million Montreal paid.

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