Lots of media hype for Philly on the MLS expansion front today. Reports out of the City of Brotherly Love, is that Chester,PA will be building a $150 million soccer stadium on the water-front in Delaware County.
The rendings of the new stadium look very nice. Click the link above to see a video report on the announcement.
The biggest drawback in the minds of locals is that the stadium won’t be finished for another 18 months. So getting an expansion bid for the 2010 season could be in doubt because they won’t be able to field a club until 2011. So it sounds like a good thing and a bad thing all together really. Most likely if this is the case they will still get a bid but not for the 2010 round of expansion but for the 2012 or even 2011 round.
Now, one more step is getting the state of PA to back the funds but apparently the Governor there likes the idea of a MLS club in Philly and will okay the funds.
Philly will get an expansion bid but it may be a bit down the line. If the state funds come through before MLS Cup it makes me wonder if Don Garber will announce not just the next two cities but the next three. With two cities with soccer stadiums (Philly and St. Louis) on the horizon and two with something in place (Seattle, Portland), should the MLS go ahead and give out some bids to allow these cities to get ready? Possibly so I think. Still there is a lot of work for each city to do before anything happens. Also a lot of work on the league’s part to get ready for four (five if you count San Jose) clubs.
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