Las Vegas doesn’t file bid for MLS expansion team
Las Vegas was not one of the 12 cities to apply for a Major League Soccer expansion team before Tuesday’s 3 p.m. deadline, as MLS plans to grow by four teams within the next five years.
In early January, the Las Vegas City Council had voted in favor of hiring a consulting firm for $80,000 to help win a bid for an expansion team. The announcement by the MLS locks in expansion candidates for the foreseeable future.
A 2015 bid for a MLS franchise, which was paired with a proposed $200 million stadium for Symphony Park, failed after the City Council was divided over the facility.
Mayor Carolyn Goodman, who has been leading the push for a new stadium, had favored Cashman Field, the home of the 51s, as a potential site for a new team and stadium. But no new bid was filed by the deadline.
Groups from Charlotte, North Carolina; Cincinnati; Detroit; Indianapolis; Nashville, Tennessee; Phoenix; Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina; Sacramento, California; St. Louis; San Antonio; San Diego; and Tampa-St. Petersburg, Florida; submitted bids.
Two of the teams, who each will have $150 million expansion fees, will start play in 2020. Two other teams will start play at least a year later.
The expansion committee, led by New England’s Jonathan Kraft, will start to review applications this month. MLS will pare the field in the next few months and plans to announce its two selections by the end of the year.
The Associated Press contributed to this story. Contact Betsy Helfand at bhelfand@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BetsyHelfand on Twitter.
