MLS draft open to public on Jan. 15
The MLS draft will be held in St. Louis on Jan. 15 in conjunction with the soccer coaches convention. The draft will start at 1 p.m. in America’s Ballroom at America’s Center. I’m told seating is limited, so come early, though I have no idea what kind of crowd will show up. The coaches and front offices from all the teams will be there, along with MLS commissioner Don Garber. Many of the potential draftees will be on hand as well. (SLU’s Calum Angus is a potential first round pick. Kyle Patterson could go later.)
And, for those wondering, there are no announcements from the commissioner forthcoming. Just because he’s in town, don’t expect him to announce an expansion team. An announcement on expansion is expected to come before the end of March, which means in no more than 10 weeks we should know.
The silence from the commissioner is deafening. In my opinion, there wouldn’t have been a better time or place to announce St. Louis as Team 17. Was the March date set so Portland could have time to straighten out their stadium situation (ala Philadelphia last year)? Hope I’m wrong!
I assume Garber will use the conference and draft to make his official visit to view the status of our bid (like he has for Miami and Vancouver). Any word on that Tom?
Garber toured St. Louis (and Collinsville) last year (I think; it’s possible it was in 2007) and not much has changed, so I don’t know if there’s anything new for him to see. The horseradish field looks pretty much the same. I wouldn’t be surprised for him to see Jeff Cooper while he’s here, but the league and Cooper’s group — and all the expansion groups — have been in touch going back and forth on topics throughout the whole process.
There are certainly reasons for the league to wait on the announcement, and seeing how the situation shakes out in Portland is one of them. It doesn’t make sense to give them a team if the stadium issue isn’t taken care of, and if the stadium issue is taken care of, well, it’s one more bit of leverage to use to get deals in other places.
At this stage, Miami seems to me to be a slam dunk. After that, it just depends on which way the league wants to go: Midwest or Pacific Northwest (or Canada).