I knew it was only a matter of time. After the Portland Timbers, the Seattle Sounders, the Montreal Impact and the Vancouver Whitecaps left the second division soccer for higher waters in MLS, you just knew the clubs below them in the bottom tiers wanted to make the same jump.

Orlando is already making that noise, and apparently now so is Carolina.

Reports out of the Triangle in North Carolina say that MLS front office executives will be meeting with local fans, media and various business and civic leaders, according Curt Johnson, president of the Carolina RailHawks.

Carolina’s group knows they have some of the right ingredients to make MLS work in their market. But just like other groups they lack one important thing, enough money to pull it off.

“Really what it boils down to are three things,” Johnson explains. “Do you have a marketplace that MLS is interested in coming to, do you have an owner with deep, deep pockets that’s interested in investing and do you have a stadium of [MLS] caliber? … In some ways, not to over simplify, but we’re one person’s decision away from [the Triangle] being an MLS marketplace, where the right person says this is a market I want to invest in.”

I’ve long said on this site that when MLS expands back into the Southeast that it can’t just do it with one club, it has to be at least two teams. I’ve also been a big fan of a team in North Carolina for a long time as well as it could potentially give say Orlando a rival and D.C. another rival. It would bridge that gap in the map for MLS.

Now is this the perfect place for MLS? Maybe, or maybe not. It is still too early to tell to be honest. WakeMed Park, the home of the Carolina Railhawks, is too small for MLS and would certainly have to undergo a major facelift to get to MLS levels (adding suites, more seats and better game-day experience for fans).

But like they are already saying, they just need that one person with enough money to make it happen.

I had every intention of posting this last night but had other things come up. Anyways, yesterday MLS commissioner Don Garber gave his media call and during the Q&A he threw out a big nugget on the New York expansion situation.

Garber stated that the league has taken the lead on getting a stadium plan together for a potential expansion team in the Big Apple, a first done so by the league. So far the league has looked at 19 different stadium locations.

“We want to ensure that when this project is complete that we have the perfect site for a stadium,” Garber said. “We’ll take the time — as long as it takes — to ensure we have the right site. That’s how important the second New York team-project is.”

“When the stadium’s done, there’ll be no shortage of owners who will line up and want to pay $100 million for our 20th team in New York,” Garber said. “We are working closely with the Mayor’s office, and they have been a great resource for us in helping to steer us to sites that they think can be developed and work in areas where they think there will be great community support and a great opportunity to achieve success. We still have work to do to finalize even a timeframe for the 20th team in New York, but we continue to be optimistic.”

As you saw earlier in my “bold season predictions” I claim that something does get done this year with a New York expansion team. I’m optimistic that it will happen and we’ll put to bed this whole race for the 20th club*.

(* saying this I do also think that the league isn’t nearly done expanding…Orlando is definitely in the mix and so will about a half other dozen cities once the league gets to 20…soon enough it will be the race for the 24th club)

(** and a second side note…I also really hope that the league gets a little more serious in helping both New England and DC out in their stadium quests as well. There were questions yesterday about each team and their stadium. In a way that really should be a higher priority for the league. Also, I’d throw Chivas USA into that mix as they’ll be hunting for a stadium location soon enough)

Garber visits Orlando to gage their expansion process. (Photo via Orlando City.)

Yesterday was a big day for the city of Orlando and for it’s soccer team, Orlando City. Both were on center display to Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber as he spoke to a group of fans at an Orlando pub.

According to Garber, until now Orlando had never really been on the league radar. But after his first public visit to the city he clearly stated that it is now.

Orlando got creative with their pitch to MLS and Garber. Fans showed up with some cool signs and banners while the club pitched in for some clever billboards that welcomed MLS and Garber to the city. In all, not a bad way to try to convince the league that they are in this for real.

“This is a really great statement about what you have going down here in Orlando,” said Garber, who compared the gathering to the fan rally he held with the Sons of Ben in Philadelphia before their successful bid for expansion. “This is an amazing statement about what is happening with soccer in America.”

Garber stated that the league looks for three things in a potential MLS city: quality ownership, the right market and a solid stadium plan. The commissioner stated that currently Orlando is doing well at the first two things.

Garber laid down a pretty stiff challenge that I think Orlando can match. He wants them to get to 3,500 season tickets to an average attendance of more than 10,000. Basically he wants Orlando to have a strong enough base to enter the league with, a challenge that I totally think is fair.

If any group in the second or third division of soccer in American can do it, it is probably this group in Orlando.

One thing is clear, Garber laid out a pretty clear set of items that the league is looking for (though we’ve kind of already known most of them anyways thanks to the last five years of expansion) in an expansion city. With several second and third division cities expressing interest in moving up to MLS down the road, they should have a pretty clear understanding of what it will take. Throw in the season ticket numbers and average attendance and you have to think that any group that can match or break that number will get the league’s attention.

As for Orlando, I like their chances. Can they pass New York now is the key question. I have my reservation about saying that they will but you can’t deny their momentum at the moment.

Smart. Clever. Advertising. (Photo via Orlando City Facebook page)

I have to give it to Orlando City for this campaign. They want a MLS team and they want it badly. Check out these clever billboards that go with the one above.

Minnesota Vikings and the city of Minneapolis are getting closer on a new stadium and the reports continue to suggest a soccer team could be part of the mix should the thing get built.

To that I say, ugh. I’m like most of you, I don’t want to see another MLS side in an oversized stadium. Should the folks in Minnesota be able to build a smaller venue next to the new stadium (reports say they’ll be building this new stadium next to the Metrodome), then I’ll listen. Until then Minnesota seems like a good pipe dream for team number 23 or 24 to me.

At least folks up there already have a little movement going to get a team. That is a start.

Can Orlando pass New York here for team #20? (Photo via Orlando Weekly)

Here we go again folks. More expansion talk.

MLS Commissioner Don Garber will travel to Orlando on March 1 for exploratory meetings about potential future expansion into Florida.

Yes, yes, the league continues to say they are focused on getting team number 20 in the Big Apple but I don’t think we can be overly shocked to hear that Garber is going to meet with officials in Orlando to discuss the future here.

“As such, I’ve been impressed with Orlando City’s success on- and off-the-field and look forward to meeting with local supporters and speaking directly with key public officials about the future of professional soccer in Orlando,” said Garber.

The trip will also include a town hall meeting with Orlando City fans at Mojo Cajun Bar and Grill at 12:30 p.m. ET. Doors open at 11:30 a.m.

The meeting is open to the public.

Again, good to hear that the league isn’t just waiting around for things in New York to happen. I still hold firm in my beliefs that New York will eventually happen, and shortly after that the league will expand to 22 teams with Orlando and someone else, followed by another duo down the road from that to get to 24 clubs. Just an opinion of mine that I have had for a long, long time.

I have to say, I am rooting for Orlando here though. Everything I’ve seen out of that group suggests they’d do very well in MLS in a few years time.  Naturally they have to work out some stadium issues and probably get another backer in the money department but I think they are well on their way here.

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.