David Beckham is staying in LA for two more years, after that it could be owning a MLS team. (Getty Images)

This is something we’ve been hearing since 2007. David Beckham has a clause in his contract with Major League Soccer that once he retires, he can buy a MLS franchise.

That much was true with his five-year deal in MLS and it is true once again with his new two-year deal.

“I have the option of owning a franchise, and that excites me,” Beckham said at a news conference yesterday in Los Angeles.

“He made it very clear to us we have to sort this through, that he’s going to exercise his option to be an owner in Major League Soccer,” Leiweke said. “We have a commitment to help him when that time comes and my guess is that, unless that’s part of the Galaxy, we’re going to be competing with him on and off the pitch.”

“The partners in the league have structured that option in a way that will allow David to become a partner in the league, to become an owner in the league at some point in the near future and operate and run his own franchise, and we’re going to encourage that,” he said. “Unless I’m mistaken, that’s his future once he does make a decision to retire.”

I won’t get into where Beckham could land as an owner today. That horse has been beaten enough over the last couple years that we know it won’t be in a few places like LA or New York.

From the sounds of things, owning a MLS franchise is still very important to Beckham. Think about it for a moment, what Beckham and his brand mean to MLS. This shows that once he hangs up his boots for good that his brand will still have a lasting image in this league.

Like him or not, Beckham has done a ton for MLS and having him be an owner one day in this league is good in my eyes.

Will he be the owner of the 20th club in MLS? Or will he be ushering in a new era in MLS that is going beyond 20 clubs? Or lastly, will he be owning a club that already exists that is being moved (probably the least likely)?

Time will tell.

Obviously we’re now at least two years away from really knowing the true nature of this clause in his contract. We know the basics – he can become an owner – and that he plans on exercising that agreement. The rest we’ll have to wait and see as the next couple of seasons unfold.

Could the Citrus Bowl work for MLS? (Photo via Orlando Weekly)

I think it is fair to say by now that Orlando is in the mix for the MLS expansion race. Maybe not club number 20 but certainly number 21, whenever that may be. Major League Soccer is likely hoping to use other cities – like Orlando  - to help push the bid for a second New York club in the league.

But say for a minute that the New York thing doesn’t happen and the league gets tired of waiting. They go a different route and that route could be Orlando. I’ve mentioned before how I like Orlando as a potential MLS city.

Here is where things get slightly tricky. A potential MLS club in Orlando – whenever that may be – will likely play in the aging Citrus Bowl.

“I can see us playing in either [a newly-renovated Citrus Bowl or a soccer-specific stadium],” Rawlins said. “The city and the county has $185 million set aside for the refurbishment of the Citrus Bowl and we’re in talks with them about that. As long as that money is used wisely and well, then I can see us playing in a refurbished Citrus Bowl.”

A renovated Citrus Bowl could be fine, depending on how it is done. Obviously getting a SSS is the key goal for a city like Orlando. Having the stadium plan in place is vital for getting the league’s attention as a serious expansion destination.

Next of course is money and who is funding all of this. For the club’s stand point, you have to wonder if Phil Rawlins and his group have the cash to be a heavy player in the minds of the league’s front office here. They’ve obviously done well in the USL and hopefully after a couple years they continue the upward trend to really make things interesting. But do they really have the cash for all of this? Time will tell.

Orlando City’s owners claim they have signed a non-disclosure agreement with MLS and analyzing business models to bring MLS soccer to Central Florida.

Something may be there after all.

Chuck Blazer could throw a massive monkey wrench into the New York expansion fun. (Getty Images)

The writing was possibly too much on the wall for this not to happen. We heard the whispers for a little while that something could be going wrong in the New York Cosmos to MLS expansion camp. With the news the other day that Cosmos chairman and CEO Paul Kemsley resigned, you just knew something else was going on.

Apparently some folks from the Middle East – from Saudi Arabia to be exact – are in talks to take over the Cosmos and their expansion effort. You have to think it is a group with some serious scratch.

But that isn’t even the biggest part of this story. Earlier this week both Soccer America and The Sporting News reported that a new group is in the hunt for this elusive New York expansion team in MLS.

Enter Chuck Glazer.

MLS commissioner Don Garber has said a few times over the last several months that there have been more than one group in New York pushing for this expansion slot, not just the Cosmos.

Blazer, who will retain his seat on FIFA’s executive committee, will be joined by former Cosmos goalkeeper Shep Messing and retired New York Jets running back Curtis Martin in an effort to land the New York City franchise that MLS so desperately wants, Soccer America reported this week.

The Sporting News mentioned that there are no other mentions of the other groups that are said to be out there. My bet, this is the big fish the league is hoping for in New York. Sure the Cosmos name and brand is iconic but at the end of the day it comes down to one important thing in New York – money.

Blazer and his group will likely have a bigger pile of money to throw at getting a stadium in New York and to getting a team in MLS. Who knows what this Saudi group that could take over the Cosmos will bring to the table, if anything it means it will be another group with a lot of scratch.

I think soccer fans in New York will enjoy hearing this news, others around the country that hope to get a MLS team in their city will certainly hate hearing this. Again, money is what drives all of this in the first place. Most of these “hopeful” cities are lacking at the moment. Until someone in Detroit, Miami, Tampa, Minnesota, San Diego or whatever flashes a few hundred million in front of the league’s front office, they likely won’t get too much of a sniff from the league.

Both Detroit and Las Vegas have people in place that are aggressively (at least in some ways) trying to lock down stadium situations for a potential club.

In Detroit, the owners of the Silverdome recently said they could have their stadium renovated for soccer in time for the 2014 season. Their plan includes tearing the roof off the Silverdome and building a 30,000-seat facility atop a concert hall and an indoor sports facility. Yeah, their plan is crazy but it could work given the right amount of time and money.

“[BC Place] is like a mini-Silverdome,” Apostolopoulos said. “After seeing that, I have no doubt that we can pull this off.”

In a way they are right.

Over in Sin City, the city of Henderson gave approved the earliest stages of a planned $1 billion development that would potentially include a soccer stadium.

Folks the heat is starting to turn up a notch.

The thing is both potential cities aren’t exactly in the 20th club vision the league has stated here. There is little doubt that if either stadium deal were in New York that we would be talking about the 20th club today kicking off in 2013 or whatever – instead we’re left wondering the what ifs.

However, saying this is a good thing. The folks in New York need some steam behind them with other cities on their tail. For a while they had been the ‘it’ city for the league and really had no competition to deal with. If these two cities continue to turn up the heat on MLS, it is only a good thing in my mind.

So, uh, yeah. There it is folks. The Silverdome with a soccer field, concert hall and a basketball arena.

I still admit, I will have to see this to believe it but if they can pull it off, good on them. I won’t go into Detroit as a MLS market right now but it is good to see other places at least trying right now with stadiums in place and at least some kind of plan. They may not be sexy as other cities to expand to but down the road if this project gets done it may not be the worst idea.

One final thought, would the club be called Detroit FC? The image has ‘DFC’ in the stands. Very interesting.

MLS Commissioner Don Garber said recently in Dallas that the league has had discussions with a several groups in New York, including the Cosmos. But like the article says, “no stadium, no team.”