Major League Soccer is headed to Minnesota.
Minnesota United FC will join MLS as the league’s 23rd club in time for the 2018 season, MLS commissioner Don Garber announced in Minneapolis on Wednesday afternoon.
United owner Dr. Bill McGuire will head the expected list of investors with Twins owner Jim Pohlad, Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor and Carlson board member Wendy Carlson Nelson also committed to the team.
“We are proud to welcome Minnesota to Major League Soccer,” Garber said in a statement. “The ownership group’s commitment to soccer and the community, the area’s growing millennial population and the region’s rich tradition of supporting soccer at all levels in Minnesota were key indicators that this was the right market. The passionate soccer fans in Minnesota will soon have a world-class, downtown soccer stadium that will serve as the home for the new MLS team and become a destination for marquee international sports events.”
MLS weighed two potential expansion bids from investors interested in placing a team in Minneapolis. Vikings owners Mark and Zygi Wilf hoped to place a team in their new football stadium, but the McGuire-led bid won out with its broad-based coalition of local investors, its desire to build a soccer-specific stadium and its success in NASL.
“I want to thank MLS commissioner Don Garber and the league’s owners for helping us bring Major League Soccer to Minnesota,” McGuire said. “As a group of Minnesotans who love this state and have made a commitment to bring this vision to life, this is a momentous day that we’ve all been waiting for.”
With a place in MLS now secured, McGuire and his investors will turn their full attention to building their eventual home next to Target Field. The new expansion side is expected to firm up its plans to build a new stadium by July 1, according to a league release.
It is a process that will require considerable massaging given the political landscape, though the group is expected to commit substantial private resources to build the expected $150 million stadium. Minnesota governor Mark Dayton told the Star-Tribune earlier this week he did not support any form of public subsidies for the new stadium, while Hennepin County commissioner Mike Opat said the new team will likely need to fund the new stadium with limited public financial support.
As the new expansion side continues to sort through those issues, it will continue operations as a NASL team. United rose to prominence with a successful group spearheaded by U.S. national team midfielder Miguel Ibarra and won the 2014 title in the second division.
The expected departure of the reigning champions in a few years’ time constitutes a blow to NASL, but the league issued a statement focused on the role it played in United’s growth and underscored its continued commitment to playing a vital role in the evolution of soccer in North America.
“The North American Soccer League was created to provide fans, players, and partners with a professional structure that best aligns with the international game and a model that integrates into the global soccer economy,” the league said in a statement. “While Major League Soccer will make an announcement on Wednesday concerning Minnesota United FC possibly becoming an MLS expansion franchise, the NASL will continue on its path to build a league that is in line with the rest of the world and offers North American soccer fans a highly competitive alternative.”
MLS is expected to contemplate further expansion over the next few months. MLS commissioner Don Garber told FOX Sports analyst Alexi Lalas on Sunday that he plans to visit Miami in the next two weeks to assess the bid headed by David Beckham, while Sacramento remains in contention for a team given the public support, the stadium plans already in place, and success of the Republic in USL. San Antonio and St. Louis are among the other cities to express interest recently, while Las Vegas missed out on the cut for this round of expansion.
BREAKING: Minnesota United is joining @MLS! #TheNorthIsRising #MNU2MLS https://t.co/AKWo4YJ3MU
— Minnesota United FC (@MNUnitedFC) March 25, 2015
