With a nod to “American Idol,” USA Today’s Beau Dure details the MLS expansion team selection process that has become a “months-long saga in which contenders are slowly but steadily eliminated” and breaks down the final four city bids that remain eligible for teams in 2011.
With the recent removal of a Miami bid, and similar bids from Atlanta and Montreal having fallen by the wayside, the choices are down to Ottawa, Portland, St. Louis and Vancouver, each with stadium and investor issues still to be resolved.
Of these four options, Dure writes that while they “might not be fully able to deliver a soccer stadium or deep-pocketed investors,” MLS Commissioner Don Garber “is committed to adding two teams” while not budging on the $40 million expansion fee despite the current economy.