Application time in MLS
Oct. 15 is the deadline for potential expansion franchises to submit their applications to Major League Soccer, which has said it will decide no later than the end of the first quarter of next year. Jeff Cooper of St. Louis United told me Tuesday that he will be e-mailing his application to the league on Wednesday — considering the application runs more than 300 pages, that’s one heck of an attachment — and will be sending a hard copy in the mail.
Cooper, as always, is optimistic.
“I feel great about it,” he said. “I feel good about everything we’ve been able to accomplish and feel this will all turn out well for us.”
What remains to be seen is how many applications the league gets. Certainly the recent swings in the stock market have made it tough for teams that would be requiring lots of money via loans. Cooper said the market “certainly affects things,” but he was going ahead with the proposal and had been in regular touch with people in the loan industry about the ability to get the money needed to start the project.
Portland has already submitted its bid. The other places mentioned as applicants are New York, Atlanta, Miami, Vancouver, Montreal and Ottawa. Ottawa and Atlanta said they submitted bids on Tuesday. FC Barcelona has said it will submit a bid for a Miami team on Wednesday. Miami is said to be looking at Florida International University’s stadium, though the league says it wants teams to be in stadiums that the team controls.
The league will announce on Wednesday which cities have submitted applications.
Finally, on a tangential expansion note, remember when the league chose Philadelphia for its expansion franchise. It liked the deep pockets of lead investor Jay Sugarman, the head of iStar Financial. As this Wall Street Journal story suggests, this is not a good time for investment firms like iStar.
Thanks for the update. Will we soon know the names of the other investors?
“In the mail”? Dude, spring for FedEx or something! Some things are too important to be trusted to the U.S. mail!
For real, we’re all rooting for you, Jeff, and for St. Louis in MLS.
In my mind Atlanta and Miami are already out of the running. Thay both have horrible records of supporting sports teams in their respective cities. Plus Miami have failed already with MLS. I see it as St. Louis vs. Canada.
I think it is pretty much Saint Louis v. Atlanta. You got to think MLS will pick one or the other of Portland or Vancouver, but not both. I highly doubt Ottawa’s chances. Montreal’s are a little better, but if Vancouver is the northwest pick, they are out because they won’t go with 2 Canada teams. Miami doesn’t have a stadium and the second NY team doesn’t make a whole lot of sense plus they seem to not have the details worked out.
So, I think it is Saint Louis v. Atlanta. Atlanta’s bid seems pretty solid with deep pockets, so we’ll see.
#17: St. Louis.
#18: Montreal, Portland or Miami, with the other two being #19 and #20.
Atlanta? Only just now trying to find land for their stadium. Vancouver? No stadium, and too soon after Seattle. Ottawa? Yeah, right. And there’s been no word that NYC is even planning to submit a bid. If MLS really does go ahead and award four franchises, there’s your four: STL, PDX, MTL, MIA.
Tom I would be interested in your handicapping the seven bids. You are closer to the information than any of us.
Seems to me that giving multiple bids to Canada would be a PR nightmare, so I too have grouped the three Canada sites into one bid, then the four US cities into a second group with a likely three out of the four receiving bids.
From your eyes, are there any that may have a weakness in the bid, such as a lack of a concrete stadium plan? Also, NYC did not bid, but all indications are that MLS would love to have a second team there. What is the chance they will be allowed a late entry for a 2012 bid?