Indy Eleven faces early hurdles in MLS bid

“The timing is right to bring MLS to St. Louis and St. Louis is ready”, said Kavanaugh, who is also the Founder of Saint Louis FC, which plays in the United Soccer League.

“What we think about when we look at growing professional soccer in America, it is a close partnership with Mexico”, he told a crowd of dignitaries that included USA soccer legend and San Diego resident Landon Donovan.

According to the United States Soccer Federation Professional Standards, a second-division league must have 12 teams, hence the provisional status for the NASL.

“Nashville has a brand unlike any other market competing for a team”, Ingram said. On Wednesday the team announced it is moving from a temporary stadium at Ramblewood Soccer Complex to the Sportsplex at Matthews, beginning June 17.

Marcus Smith, president and CEO of Speedway Motorsports, Inc., has been working with city and county leaders, along with community stakeholders in the effort to bring an MLS expansion team to the area.

The Smiths’ bid seemed a bit less buttoned up. Ozdemir will deliver the application by hand to the league office in Manhattan on Tuesday. We are very encouraged by Deputy Commissioner Abbott’s comments related to our ownership, media market, stadium plan and team history. “So we’ll continue our talks with them and see where we end up”.

MLS is planning to expand the league this fall. Two other teams will start play at least a year later.

Soccer team investors have formally submitted their application to Major League Soccer in the hopes of the city being awarded one of four expansion teams.

The Eleven are one of two current NASL teams submitting a bid for expansion into MLS. The expansion starlet of three years ago has struggled to gain support for a new stadium in downtown Indy and could be using this bid to encourage local lawmakers to speed up that process.

The North American league, whose expansion candidates are all from USA cities, will reach 22 active teams when Atlanta United and Minnesota United debut in March with Los Angeles FC to take the field in 2018. St. Louis is a soccer insane city that, quite frankly, many expected would have a franchise at this point. The county also agreed to a financing plan that would give the future ownership group $75 million, which would be paid back over 25 years.