MLS talk Wednesday was all about the seven bids submitted to start new teams in 2011, but there were some conspicuous absences too. The much-vaunted New York Mets bid has been put off until 2012, writes Michael Lewis, because there are no “concrete” plans for a stadium.
“It’s something that we still have a very significant degree of interest in,” said David Howard, the Mets executive vice president in charge of business, “but one of the fundamental elements would be having a facility and we would want to have a world-class facility for a soccer franchise. Until these plans become concrete, we thought it would be premature to submit an application for an expansion franchise.”
“We did not anticipate they would [submit an application],” said MLS President Mark Abbott said. “They had expressed an interest. There is a lot of work that needs to be done on the potential of a stadium. That will take some time.”