As MLS prepares to begin its first season with 18 clubs, the recent talk on the Internet has focused on its possible 20th team.  Recent talk on this site has centered on Don Garber traveling to Miami to meet with Miami soccer fans; if you have not read The Gaffer’s article on the meeting then definitely check it out.

But Miami will be in a tough race for that 20th slot, as one familiar name and one new name seem to be their biggest competition.

The famed New York Cosmos, who have been maintaining operations in the hope of becoming an MLS franchise in 2012, made news this week by hiring a familiar name as its associated director of soccer – former U.S. national Cobi Jones.  As Jeremiah Oshan notes, this looks to be a serious move at making the jump to a top-flight professional team unlike many of their rumored moves.  Currently the owner of a uniform and development academies, the “team” still has a way to go before it is ready for MLS play, but with the names it is gathering it could only be a matter of time before Don Graber announces it as the next expansion team.

But the Cosmos may be squeezed out by a new contender whose infrastructure suggests it is ready to make the jump to MLS.  San Antonio’s new NASL team unveiled its new name and plans for its own stadium with the stated goal of entering MLS…. by 2012.  San Antonio Scorpions FC will play in the 5,400 seat STAR complex which will have the ability to expand to 18,000 if the call-up is made for the club.

Of course there are other NASL, USL PRO, and imagined clubs that are yearning for MLS status, but these three markets seem the most viable right now for expansion.  All three also have their pros and cons.  Miami is a huge media market with a long soccer history, but that history includes one failed MLS franchise so far.  The Cosmos have the name and the history, as well as the country’s largest media market, but would also share their city with an established MLS franchise.  Plus, the Cosmos have an affiliation with the old NASL, a time in history that MLS would probably not like to relive.  San Antonio is another market that demographically and geographically makes sense for MLS; the soccer supporters group the “Crocketteers” numbers in the hundreds without a club to support.  However, in addition to the Scorpions the ownership group of the San Antonio Spurs is establishing their own USL Pro franchise with plans to move up to MLS eventually.

What city do you think will get the 20th franchise and why?  Answer in the comments and in the poll.

Update: RSL Soapbox has some intriguing option for expansion as well.

Sold out crowd at Lockhart Stadium for Miami Fusion v DC United

I had the sudden realization Sunday that if aliens descended on my town and were asked to find any life of Major League Soccer in South Florida, the only thing they would find is MLS trading cards in the bargain bin of the local dollar store. Seriously.

Sadly, Major League Soccer is extinct in South Florida. The nearest MLS team is 1,000 miles away. The last time I saw anyone wearing a MLS jersey was more than two years ago. And the last time there was a trace of a MLS team in all of Florida was nine years ago.

I sound like a broken record, but the reality is that if it wasn’t for television, I would be — as the Brits say — a miserable old git. It’s practically my only outlet to watch the professional game. And even then, the amount of MLS coverage is few and far between especially when compared to the smorgasbord of European soccer on US TV.

Yes, I go watch my kids play AYSO games. Yes, I attend Miami FC matches in the USL, now NASL or whatever temporary league name the USSF gives it, but the reality is that it’s not MLS. It’s nowhere close to a MLS experience. It’s nothing like when I was a Miami Fusion season ticket holder when most of my life revolved around when the home team played at Lockhart Stadium.

Many critics may argue that South Florida had its chance and failed at Major League Soccer. But that’s a far too simplistic explanation. The reality is that it was a combination of drastic mistakes everywhere from the back office staff to poor marketing and a failed attempt to target the Miami-Dade community, most of whom didn’t want to drive the short distance to Fort Lauderdale. But the main culprits were, in my opinion, the ownership of Ken Horowitz who decided to pull the plug too early just as the team was becoming successful both on and off the field, and the failure of Major League Soccer to find an investor willing to take over from Horowitz.

The reality is that there are hundreds of thousands of soccer fans around the United States, or perhaps more, who are in a similar boat to me and have no local MLS team to follow. Arsenal is just as “local” to them as is Chicago Fire. There’s little bond between MLS and these isolated soccer fans, so the next best thing is either the USL or NASL or, more likely, television. And as I’ve discussed previously, when it comes to the TV war, MLS almost always loses.

So in communities such as South Florida and tens of other large metropolitan areas around the United States, we have to be patient. But the longer we wait, the more the new soccer fans will gravitate to what is most accessible — which is European soccer on television. And the longer the wait, the harder it will be for new MLS teams to make the local team its passion instead of Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Tottenham Hotspur or whatever team he or she supports.

If you’re fortunate to live near a MLS team, count yourself lucky. Go watch games at the stadium and support the beautiful game. There are huge amounts of soccer fans nationwide who would jump at the chance to go see a MLS team.

Today’s announcement by Major League Soccer that Miami will not be one of the expansion teams was yet another kick in the teeth for soccer aficionados in South Florida.

Consider the following facts:

1. When Dolphin Stadium (then called Joe Robbie Stadium) was opened in 1987, it was purposefully designed with a wider than usual playing surface to accommodate soccer. It seemed a certainty that Miami would be one of the cities to host the 1994 World Cup. Instead, Orlando was selected and the matches were played at the woefully inadequate Citrus Bowl.
2. Despite having the best record in MLS during the 2001 season, being one game away from the MLS Cup, and having its best year for attendances, the team was contracted by MLS.
3. South Florida used to have a fairly regular schedule of friendlies involving national and club teams, but that has dissipated to a trickle of teams that play in the region. National and club teams such as Brazil, USA, Argentina, Germany, Colombia, Bayern Munich, Rangers and Mexico used to play in South Florida. Now, if we’re lucky, we get to see a handful of friendlies each year featuring B-level national teams such as Haiti, Honduras, Guatemala and Chile.

Critics would argue that soccer has been given plenty of chances to succeed in South Florida, but I disagree. Soccer has been poorly marketed in the region time after time. And the moment when it seemed that an organization had finally put together a sound plan (i.e. Marcelo Claure and Barcelona), the rug was pulled out from under us due to the dire economic mess the world is in.

I hate to be a pessimist, but it’s unlikely that a Major League Soccer team will return to South Florida during my lifetime. The story of the Fusion and the failed attempt by Barcelona will deter businessmen from trying to bring a team to South Florida in the future. For many, it may be too big of a risk to take especially given the current economic meltdown.

Living in South Florida, I find it ridiculous that the nearest MLS team to me is exactly 1,000 miles away — DC United. That’s the same distance from London to Naples, Italy. And just imagine how many professional clubs can be found between those two cities. Let’s hope I’m wrong and that a MLS team will eventually return to this soccer hotbed. We deserve it down here.

After Kartik Krishnaiyer and I recently spent the day at GolTV studios, we decided to make a stop at the future home of FCB Miami on the campus of Florida International University in west Miami.

We wanted to see for ourselves how the stadium looked and how it compared to the home of the last Major League Soccer team in South Florida, Fort Lauderdale’s Lockhart Stadium.

Here’s the video tour of what we found:

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GolTV commentator Ray Hudson was recently interviewed by Kartik Krishnaiyer of Major League Soccer Talk. The former DC United and Miami Fusion coach had much to say about the possibility of a MLS team returning to South Florida.

Hudson answered questions on several topics including:

• his thoughts on the Miami Barca deal and what Barcelona represents,
• how the fanbase in South Florida will take to a new MLS team,
• a trip down memory lane with the APSL Fort Lauderdale Strikers,
• the memories at DC United and Miami Fusion that stick out in Hudson’s mind, and
• what lessons MLS and US Soccer can take from Doug Hamilton about how to make soccer a better product.

Watch the Ray Hudson video interview now:

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If you want to watch more of Ray Hudson, visit La Liga Talk for another exclusive interview as well as behind the scenes footage of the Geordie alongside fellow GolTV commentator Phil Schoen.

In the meantime, keep on returning to Major League Soccer Talk this week for more exclusive interviews and videos.

Most pundits agree that Miami is odds-on favorites to get a Major League Soccer team in 2010 or 2011. After all, with a name like Barcelona tied to the club, how could MLS refuse?

While the vast majority of articles about the expansion bid have been positive, I wanted to get a few things off my chest so the news is more balanced than what’s been printed in the media thus far.

Let me first say that I was a Miami Fusion season ticket holder, a member of the Afusionados supporters group and covered the Fusion as a member of the media. Plus, I proposed to my wife on the Fusion pitch at Lockhart Stadium during half-time of a MLS match, so you could say I have a deep emotional bond with the now departed Miami Fusion operation.

For the past several months I’ve been following the behind-the-scenes negotations regarding the Fusion, but never thought it would actually come to this whereby Miami is literally one step away from seeing a MLS team return to South Florida once again.

At this point, I’m extremely excited about the prospect of Miami being awarded a MLS team, but here are my reservations:

1. The field at Florida International University Stadium is field turf, not grass.
2. The Florida International University Stadium is home to a college football team, not a MLS team — which means that there will be fixture congestion and the Barca Miami team will always have second choice.
3. The stadium is in western Miami, which is an inconvenient location for many including (1) people who can’t afford to drive on the Florida Turnpike toll road, and (2) those driving from the east and north east such as residents of West Palm Beach, which is 80 minutes away from FIU.

If Barcelona wasn’t involved in this deal, then there would be a lot more naysayers regarding Miami’s chance of seeing a MLS team come to South Florida again.

The ideal location for Barca Miami would be downtown Miami on the site of the former Orange Bowl where the City of Miami was looking for investors to put in $50 million to help build the stadium next door to the future home of the Florida Marlins baseball team. But when Florida International University is offering its stadium rent-free to a MLS team, how could Barcelona and Marcelo Claure not take them up on the offer?

In life, nothing is perfect. Such is the state of the Barca Miami bid, but if it means the opportunity of professional soccer returning to South Florida, then I’m all in favor of it and will support the team. The question is whether the rest of the soccer fans in the area will do the same.

Ray Hudson is a playing, coaching and broadcasting figure who has few equals in the United States today. As a seven year member of the Fort Lauderdale Strikers of the NASL, Hudson played alongside such legends of the game as Nene Cubillias, Gerd Mueller and George Best. Later he played several for the Strikers of the APSL and went on to manage the MLS’ Miami Fusion and DC United. Living in Fort Lauderdale, Hudson now commentates on Internationals, Bundesliga, and La Liga matches for Miami based GOL TV. The interview with host Kartik Krishnaiyer discusses Hudson’s career from the time he touched down on American soil in 1977 right through today when he calls matches for GOL TV.

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