MLS Expansion: New York Again or Orlando?

     The MLS has been talking for quite some time about where the 20th franchise will be awarded.  There really has only been one place that the MLS has truly wanted to go.  This direction would include a revival of the former NASL side the New York Cosmos.  The brand died out and ultimately led to the former NASL folding altogether.  The Cosmos name and legacy, however, have been very marketable and many people still buy old school replica jerseys and memorabilia. The MLS knows this and now is trying to capitalize on it. The board that the New York Cosmos have assembled also includes soccer legends Pele and Eric Cantona. Those two personalities enough give any soccer lover reason to believe that the Cosmos could be brought back to life. There are many questions that arise in this expansion proposal.  There still is no stadium plans or a design and building a stadium in downtown New York City could be astronomical.  There also is already a team in the New York metropolitan area, Red Bull New York.  Grant it, the team does play in  Harrison, NJ and not New York City at all.  This would also give the city two MLS franchises when many cities are screaming out for their first.  The issue of two teams in the same area leads to many other questions. 

Will Red Bull New York even be able to stay alive if the New York Cosmos move in to the city? The Red Bulls have been able to draw some of the worlds top players to come and play for their club including Henry and Rafa Marquez.  They also have a strong corporate backing that has allowed them to build a brand new state of the art stadium.  With this being said, they still have not won any hardware and do not regularly sell out their beautiful stadium.  A new team in town may be a death sentence for the club.  Most of the players who have been lured to Red Bull New York have said that the attraction of the city was too much to resist.  It is truly frightening to think of what type of world talent could be persuaded lured to play in a downtown New York City setting.  The Cosmos at this point are almost guaranteed to be given the 20th MLS franchise and if not them it would most likely still be a team in New York City.  The past few years, however, have lead to the emergence of  another MLS franchise contender.  Orlando City Soccer Club has truly been doing some incredible things that have led to Orlando being considered for the next spot.  I know most of you are already saying the MLS in Florida? Hasn't that been done and failed? 

       Your suspicions are truly warranted.  The collapse of the former MLS franchises Tampa Bay Mutiny and the Miami Fusion has turned off the MLS from Florida and the south in general.  In defense of Miami the collapse was because of an owner who simply did not care about his own franchise.  Tampa Bay just doesn't support its franchises whether they are good or not.  With all that said Orlando has arrived as a viable market.  MLS Commissioner Don Garber is going to visit Orlando and talk with representatives on March 1st.  This could potentially lead to the 20th or maybe 21st MLS franchise being awarded to them.  Orlando has gotten to this point by having very high average attendance numbers over the past few seasons.  They are getting almost over 7000 fans per game.  This is a very high number for a team that competes in what FIFA has deemed the third tier of American soccer.  They are also the reigning USL PRO champions after beating my beloved Harrisburg City Islanders in a dramatic match.  I watched the entire game on USL Live and was astonished at the atmosphere of the almost 10,000 rowdy fans.  I immediately thought that this could be a potential spot for the MLS to finally break back into the south and survive.  Orlando City has also been able to achieve a very good record against current MLS squads and have recently defeated Newcastle United 1-0.  Newcastle United is currently sixth in the EPL.  This shows that the club does have a solid foundation and could only be helped by an expansion draft.  It will be very interesting to see how the MLS meeting on March 1st goes and I hope Orlando City can become one of the next franchises.  There still are question about building a soccer specific stadium.  The team currently plays in the Citrus Bowl.  I don't know if that stadium could be tailored or transformed into a viable soccer stadium.  Both potential sites for the next MLS franchise are very exciting.  The possibility of a stadium in New York City could be amazing but the powers that be are still not there to make that happen.