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Which MLS expansion city would you pick?

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With the seven candidates for MLS expansion by 2011 now set, we should find out plenty about all seven bids as the weeks and months go by and we move closer to an announcement on the 17th and 18th MLS franchises.

As you may know, I ran a poll on what expansion cities SBI readers preferred. Now that we have seven established candidates, I want to do another poll and this one will be a little different. The question is a simple one. If you have a vote to pick just one of the seven expansion cities to join MLS, which would it be? Yes, there will be two cities chosen this time around, but I want to see which city more people consider their top choice.

Which city did you pick? Share your choices and reasons for your picks in the comments section below.

Comments

  1. Ives,

    Have you heard about Conway and Parke being suspended for 10 games for using performance enhancing drugs? I am interested in why they are being suspended when the supplements they used were purchased over the counter from a national chain. Interesting. (Story via ESPN)

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  2. With not knowing until april who wins the expansion sites, then i can see this being worse then CR7 to real madrid flirt fest, and by the time february comes all we will want to hear is how a couple yanks are destroying the scouse.

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  3. Who do I think SHOULD get a team (not who I think WILL get a team): Montreal and Portland. Both bring to the table: Instant Rivalries, proven fan base, decent TV Markets, good stadium situations that can easily be upgraded, good ownership groups.

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  4. Montreal gets the edge, if only because Toronto’s instantaneous fan support would likely be repeated. From a grassroots level, there’s no question. If considerations other than fans come into it, probably Miami or Portland.

    As for who NOT to pick, who in their right mind would give Atlanta another team to not support? They’re like the kid who screams for a new toy, then abandons it a week after getting it. They should learn to show some love for the teams they HAVE before asking for another one.

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  5. I voted for Miami because of the Barcelona connection and it’s in the USA. Plus, it’s a major market. Tri-state area people move to Florida to retire. Why can’t aging European soccer stars? The Fusion were a fun exciting team to watch and I was dissapointed when the league contracted. In theory, Tampa & Miami should have first dibs on getting their teams back. Go Barca Miami and Tampa Bay Mutiny Streakers!

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  6. I love all of the anti-Miami arguments, they make me laugh.

    Isn’t it obvious the league wants a team there? They have been talking to the city for a long time, despite having no bidders.

    Now they have a legitimate bidder with deep, deep pockets. I think Miami and one of the two Canadian teams seems likely.

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  7. Portland is THE smart choice, if MLS wants there to be a successful, viable, long-term franchise.

    Atlanta – please, the Silverbacks couldn’t even draw 4,000 this year on average. They already have competition from all 4 of the ‘major’ sports, so MLS would be an afterthought for the entertainment dollar.

    Montreal – strong case. Nice stadium with owner who has proven that he will spend money on soccer. I question their inflated attendance numbers, but they have solid support.

    Miami – can we please not have another Fusion? If the market couldn’t support it before, what makes people think that things have changed so much that it will be different? Even if Barca is taking the lead, do we want another Chivas USA?

    Ottawa – next please.

    St. Louis – ‘the hotbed of youth soccer’ is not a reason to get an MLS team. KC is close enough – does Missouri deserve two teams? I say no. Move KC there. Or try your luck with USL-1 first and prove yourselves.

    Vancouver – the rivalry with PDX and SEA would be amazing, dating back 30 years. Their support seems strong, but when you can’t consistently sell out a 5,000+ seat stadium and your team is near the top of the table all season, you don’t have enough support.

    Portland – drew over 8,200 per game average for USL team this year (+25% to prior year for a last place team – that’s support, people). The downtown stadium across the street from light rail is a no-brainer, and would be the jewel of the league. With the Nike World Headquarters and Adidas North American HQ there, the corporate support is perfect. Plus, we hate Shi*tle, so the USA’s best rivalry would be renewed.

    PDX and VAN/MON in 2011.

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  8. Off topic but HOLY CRAP:

    Conway and Parke banned ten games

    October 16, 2008 (Official Press Release)

    Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber announced today that he has suspended and fined New York Red Bulls players Jon Conway and Jeff Parke for violating the MLS Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health (SABH) Policy by testing positive for androstatriendione (ATD) and boldenone metabolites, performance enhancing substances.

    Each player is suspended for 10 MLS games, including regular season and playoffs, effective immediately, and each has also been fined 10 percent of his annual salary. During the suspension, the players may not participate in any other competitions.

    The players purchased and ingested an over-the-counter nutritional supplement containing ATD, a substance that metabolizes into boldenone. Both ATD and boldenone are banned substances under MLS’s SABH policy. The supplement was purchased from a vitamin store that is part of a national chain.

    “MLS has one of the strictest drug policies in professional sports and holds its athletes both responsible and accountable for what they put into their bodies,” Garber said. “This is an important statement as to the high standards to which we hold our players.”

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  9. Would it be bending FIFA rules to re-organize in to 2 leagues, A la the NL and AL in baseball? have a west coast leage, an East Coast league, one or two inter-league cups, maybe a bit of in-season inter-league play and make the playoffs more exciting?

    PORTLAND ALL THE WAY. Bring Montreal or Vancouver in, save Miami for when ATL can come in too and be the beginnings of a SE division.

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  10. Montreal is the no brainer here. The battle would be for what other team will join them.

    Portland and the Nike connection? The league is sponsored by Adidas, so that’s a bit of a problem.

    St. Louis – in the past I always felt they should have a team but if they can’t put it in St. Louis then screw them. St. Louis has the space to build a proper SSS, so this building on the Illinois side of the river is B.S..

    Atlanta – what about the existing USL team moving up? If they can’t or won’t do it then screw Atlanta on this one. The Silverbacks deserve to be in MLS is Atlanta is chosen.

    Vancouver is the ONLY other city I’d consider on this list.

    Ottawa – puhlease.

    Miami – only because Barca is involved and they’d invest the money properly and try to do it right but this stadium needs to be in the actual city.

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  11. 1) St Louis has been waiting too long.

    2) Portland, they have a great following.

    All the others are interesting but will have to wait for the next expansion.

    Including NY(Queens), who are interested in post 2011, there will be 6 teams who more than likely will be interested in later expansion. At this rate maybe MLS should find an additional group of teams and create a second division with all its possibilities in the coming years.

    With the fact that all these teams belong to one company, MLS, this should be doable in that the owners can come up with some mechanism that would spread around the worth of promotion and the loss in value of relegation. Just a possibility….

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  12. Miami? Puhleease. If it failed once already, why would they go there now? Give another city a shot.

    Atlanta? They can’t even get the city to rally around the baseball team when they’d win year after year after year. I can’t imagine soccer would be any different.

    Ottawa? I’d love to go visit, but they don’t have a legit shot.

    Montreal, Portland, Vancouver and St. Louis are all good options…with Montreal being my 1st choice.

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  13. I don’t know the history, so someone please fill me in on the gabs but why did the Miami Fusion fold? With Barcelona backing the Miami team, I figure it would at least have the financial backings but is Miami really the best option now?

    I think Portland would be the best given they only have the Trail Blazers and the fact that the Timbers have been successful. There’s enough of a sports fan base (without the distractions of other franchises) to do well.

    I’d be interested in another Canadian city being added along with Portland. I’d say Vancouver or Montreal would be a great place. The fans are starved for something else other than hockey. I’m not saying they’re done with hockey but they want something to go along with it.

    I’ll go with Portland and Vancouver (based on Steve Nash’s backing).

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  14. Portland because:

    The former Timbers were very popular.

    The University of Portland has always had a strong following and has helped the city become relatively intelligent about the sport

    It is the most popular participation sport.

    The city’s only professional team is beyond popular and could easily share the love.

    There are recognizable, marketable spokespersons: Keller, Shannon McMillan, Tiffany Milbrett, Michelle French, et al.

    The similarity between Portland’s weather and that of London’s (market rain’s charms)

    The amazing public transportation system

    The huge hispanic base…(in many Oregon towns there are soccer leagues and every Sunday you see uniforms of America, Chivas, Cruz Azul, etc. running around, mmmmm and the smell of delicious food)

    The automatic built-in high caliber rivalry with Seattle

    Nike’s headquarters is there, Nike is almost a point of Oregon pride.

    Soccer is not very macho and neither is Portland.

    Oregonians love fast, unimpeded running (Eugene is Tracktown U.S.A.)

    Soccer is fashionable.

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  15. The SSS might not be a requirement for the 1st year, but it should be & with the time-frame for these new teams it shouldn’t be an issue. BMO was built in less time than these teams will have. Without BMO, TFC would not be as successful as it is.

    The stadium doesn’t have to be great – BMO is very basic, but you need the right location & size to create a great atmosphere.

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  16. This should be a question of which other team will join Portland in becoming new franchises.

    There are so many reasons for Portland join is stupid.

    – Downtown quirky stadium

    – culture of city to support a club as Timbers have seen

    – Nike hq

    – Large Adidas office in Portland

    – Rivalries with Seattle and general disdain for Californians so LA and SJ become rivals.

    – Helps eliminate more travel for WC teams which is a huge problem.

    – No other real sports competition in town. Big help for RSL coverage.

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  17. It was a toss-up for me between Portland and Montreal, but since I live in Portland… well, it’s obvious who I chose.

    Miami? Please. What a joke.

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  18. For the record visiting Miami for an away game does not mean it will be a successful team or good for the league

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  19. I’ve been distracted with South Amer WCQs and just found out about the bids for the new MLS teams. The businessmen and businesses behind the bids reads like a who’s who of well-known entrpreneurs:

    *Vancouver-Steve Nash, Former Yahoo Prez Jeff Mallett

    *Montreal-Saputo Family, George Gillett-Canadians owner and co-owner of Liverpool

    *Ottawa-Senators owner

    *Atlanta-Falcons owner

    *Portland-Treasury Secretary’s son

    *Miami-Barca, Bolivian co-owner of Bolivar

    *St. Louis

    Unbelievable. I’ve had some decent conversations with other footy fans at work.

    My choices-Miami (road trips would be sweet)

    Portland

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  20. pretty much sick of this topic.

    its kinda like a huge bag of chips or popcorn, i do not have the selfcontrol to stop.

    Same answer as any thread or poll ive partaken in, Montreal and Vancouver but realistically if they include any canadians team this round, itll be one team and that team will be Montreal. A perfect second addition would be Portland as they have the same recipe for success. i wont go over the details as theyve been repeated a billion times over. Seeing as Miami was ushered in as a whim, they can wait. Same goes for St Louis (who is even more deserving of the two).

    Voted for Montreal btw.

    I think we will see Montreal and St Louis or Portland

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  21. Given one vote I went with Montreal they have they have the best package of positives, An existing SSS that can be upgraded, a passionate fan base, a built in rivalry with TFC, an owner with a passion for soccer and deep pockets and a large metropolitan area. None of the other applicants bring this much to the table.

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  22. Atlanta – It’s closest to me and Atlanta is a large city with quality youth soccer. They should be able to draw crowds if the stadium is put in the right place.

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  23. Doug- The SSS isn’t a requirement for the first year. What you need is serious plans and a timetable for the construction of your SSS. Building an SSS takes years, and they can’t do it without significant capital and assurances by the league that they will in fact have a team.

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  24. Just for kicks, I set up the 7 candidates in head to head matches in a league to see who would come out on top. In the matches the prospective cities played against each other and scored goals based if one had a clear edge in five categories: 1) Ownership and proposal strength 2) Fan Support History 3) TV Market 4) Potential Support (corporate and fan) 5) Other: Rivalries created/ Geographic balancing. I tried to rule for each one as I thought MLS HQ might (not as I would but I can’t help but be a little biased). Here is how the league table finished:

    TEAM W L T GF GA

    Montreal 5 0 1 18 3

    Miami 5 0 1 18 8

    Portland 4 2 0 11 7

    St.Louis 3 3 0 7 10

    Atlanta 2 4 0 11 13

    Vancouver 1 5 0 9 11

    Ottawa 0 6 0 0 22

    I think that the MLS is going to only choose one team from Canada and its going to be Montreal which hurts Vancouver and especially Ottowa. I think they want to put one team in the SE for now, which will be Miami which discounts Atlanta’s chances (they don’t have a particularly strong bid or history).

    Portland and St. Louis are extremely close but Portland gets the nod because they have a much stronger track record of fan support (Timbers USL) and have a decent stadium they could play in already (TV Market is close enough to be too close to call). I also think all things considered that the MLS would side with a U.S. city over a Canadian city if all else was tied with the exception of Montreal.

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  25. Portland. The reasons are well established. Best fans, great local, vicious rivalry with the Sounders, downtown location, perfect stadium, solid ownership. Enough said.

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  26. The STL because we all (in Chicago) want an I55 rival.

    Otherwise Portland. TA and the rest of the folks up there deserve an MLS side. I mean, c’mon, if they’ll give Sh!ttle and their ‘consumers’ a club, it should go without saying that a real club with history and actual support base should already have a team. But I guess Hollywood marching band-man and Micro”Iowntheworld”Soft got first dibs.

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  27. Montreal or Portland. Both would make for great rivalries with either TFC or the Sounders, plus both have fan bases that care for soccer.

    I would love Vancouver because I live here, but frankly I don’t think it would work until there was a soccer specific stadium.

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  28. Someone really needs to explain this love affair with St, Louis. I know that 50 years ago, they were big in US soccer, but what does that mean now?

    My vote is for Miami. It would be the only team that I could drive instead of have to fly to go see and their location would draw the types of DP’s only NY and LA can draw now. As far as the heat, you get used to. I would rather play in the summer in Flordia than November in New England.

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  29. Montreal, Vancouver, Portland. Proven cities with a good track record, not retreads from the past from areas where interest in anything other than pro football in negligible. Atlanta Braves couldn’t even sell out playoff games after a while…

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  30. I picked St. Louis because that’s where I’m from. Easy enough.

    Whatever happened, though, to the “requirement” of a soccer-specific stadium (SSS)?

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  31. I picked St. Louis because that’s where I’m from. Easy enough.

    Whatever happened, though, to the “requirement” of a soccer-specific stadium (SSS)?

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  32. I picked St. Louis because that’s where I’m from. Easy enough.

    Whatever happened, though, to the “requirement” of a soccer-specific stadium (SSS)?

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  33. I just don’t get the love-in for St Louis>? Sure i get it’s a hub of youth soccer…but how exactly is that going to help MLS? How is another surbuban (read The Dick) stadium going to help in the face of better alternatives? More over, all this does is further entrench a KC franchise that has been on life-support for years and is a blight on the league. For all the bitching about the Crew, at least their stadium is downtown and they get more fans than KC ever has.

    Barca or no Barca, I don’t see how Miami gets a second shot so soon…not with other viable, proven alternatives.

    For my money…Montreal, Portland, Vancouver,

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  34. Miami would be in the best position to attract interest from quality international players. Given the dilution of talent associated with expansion, that international appeal is a huge plus.

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  35. I picked St. Louis because it’s pretty much the leading city in the U.S. in terms of soccer history and tradition without a team yet. I think there’s great potential there for a strong fan base.

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