MLS: Charlotte expansion when, not if

MLS Commissioner Don Garber is in ‘very, very advanced’ discussions with Charlotte regarding expansion as the 30th team. This is now a question of when, not if.

Major League Soccer wants to expand. They have made no apologies for stating as such. Commissioner Don Garber recognises the growing market for soccer — and for his league specifically — in North America and he wants to make the most of it.

It makes sense. The financial motivations are only increasing, there is always a desire to grow your league into one that can rival the elite North American sports, and to do that, you must tap into large markets. This is why there have been recent expansions into Nashville, Cincinnati, Austin, and Miami.

And now there might be another major American city to add to the list: Charlotte, where Garber has been conducting negotiations in recent weeks as they move closer to becoming the 30th expansion team.

Garber has already confirmed that MLS will expand to 30 teams. There is a wide expectation that this will move to 32 teams once it is necessary. There are 29 officially named teams, with Sacramento the last to be unveiled. There is a growing race to be number 30.

And the way that Garber speaks about Charlotte and potential expansion into North Carolina, it seems as though David Tepper, the new owner of the Carolina Panthers and the investor leading the Charlotte expansion bid, is nearing his end goal of having an MLS team based in Charlotte.

After a Board of Governors meeting on Thursday, Garber spoke very positively about the Charlotte expansion bid:

"“We’re in very, very advanced discussions with David (Tepper) and his group. I think our board really appreciated all the detail they provided today. The MLS board authorized the MLS Expansion Committee to enter what I expect to be final negotiations with David to have Charlotte be our 30th team.”"

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The bid satisfies a lot about what Garber and MLS value in an expansion bid: they have a progressive owner who is willing to invest heavily in the franchise, build a competitive team, and bring commercial growth to the local soccer scene; there is a strong local fanbase already as evidenced by the success in Raleigh; Charlotte is a strong market that Garber believes the new club can tap into. There is just one problem: the stadium.

At present, the plans state that Tepper will have his MLS team play alongside his NFL team, the Panthers, in Bank of America Stadium. Sharing NFL stadiums is something that Garber has been keen to move away from in recent years, preferring the benefits a soccer-specific site offers, but perhaps Charlotte can buck the trend. The way Garber speaks suggests that this is an issue that can be solved, not one that will entirely undermine the expansion bid.

It seems, then, that MLS expansion to Charlotte is a matter of when, not if. Garber likes the bid, Tepper is keen to see it to completion, and MLS wants to grow. There is just the stadium to solve, but that feels like a speedbump not a car crash.