Sacramento, Las Vegas and Minneapolis Fight for an MLS Team expansion

[Buck87]

It's expected that Charlotte will be announced as the 30th MLS franchise tomorrow, and they will be owned by Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper.

It's also rumored that that they will start play in 2021, to keep the league at an even number by coming in with Austin. This would make the most sense, although one negative side effect is that Nashville will likely have to spend their first 2 years in the Western Conference, before getting moved to the East once Sacramento and St. Louis arrive in 2022.

So while Charlotte will be the 30th team announced, they might be the 28th the actually begin play.

Edit to update:

Charlotte will indeed begin play in 2021

[dvferyance]

Sacramento makes no sense given it's close proximity to the bay area. If your going to put another team in California San Diego would have been more logical.

[Bruce]

Sacramento makes no sense given it's close proximity to the bay area. If your going to put another team in California San Diego would have been more logical.

Sacramento is an entirely different media market and has an existing team with good levels of support in the lower leagues. It also had a stable stadium plan and finally got their funding all pieced together.

San Diego, on the other hand, has had trouble keeping its lower league teams and its stadium situation is still murky at best. There's also the matter of competing with the Xolos right across the border, so consider the market already covered.

[Buck87]

Due to various complications and delays caused by the pandemic, 3 of the 4 expansion teams will now start a year later than originally planned. So the new schedule is:

2021 - Austin FC (27 teams)
2022 - Charlotte (28 teams)
2023 - St. Louis and Sacramento (30 teams)