The Tampa Bay Mutiny and the Miami Fusion are no longer. After more than a month of speculation that Major League Soccer would contract for the 2002 season, Commissioner Don Garber announced on Tuesday (Jan. 8) that Tampa Bay and Miami will immediately cease operations. MLS also announced that it is in continuing negotiations with several entities to invest in MLS and acquire the operating rights of the Dallas Burn and San Jose Earthquakes, which, after Tampa BayÆs elimination, remain the MLSÆs only league-run team. (Miami was operated by Ken Horowitz, who reportedly bought into MLS for the 1998 season at $20 million.) Additionally, MLS announced that the Anschutz Entertainment Group has exercised its option to become the investor-operator of D.C. United. “Our investors have made a number of strategic decisions that will better position MLS in the short and long term,” Commissioner Garber said. “These decisions took many months to finalize and were enormously complex and involved, but are necessary to ensure the future success of the league. “While we are reducing the number of teams by two for now, the long-term funding commitment, media commitments, new investment and the fact that all teams will have investor-operators will make MLS a stronger and more viable league going forward.” In Miami, the MLS Board of Governors, along with investor-operator Horowitz, who founded the Miami Fusion as an expansion team in 1998, have determined that the local market is not capable at this time of providing the support necessary to effectively sustain an MLS team. Even with an Eastern Conference championship and increases at the gate, the team remained among the lowest in league average attendance, corporate support and overall revenues. Horowitz will remain an investor in MLS, with an option of returning as an operator in South Florida or an expansion market. MLS will feature a 10-team, two-conference alignment for the 2002 season. The Eastern Conference will be the Chicago Fire, Columbus Crew, D.C. United, the MetroStars and the New England Revolution. The Western Conference will be the Colorado Rapids, Dallas Burn, Kansas City Wizards, Los Angeles Galaxy and San Jose Earthquakes. MLS will conduct a dispersal draft of the Tampa Bay and Miami rosters on Friday (Jan. 11). All former Fusion and Mutiny players will be placed into a Dispersal Draft pool, along with all first-round picks in the 2002 SuperDraft held by Miami and Tampa Bay. All lower 2002 SuperDraft picks held by these teams (other than picks they may have previously traded away) will be eliminated, including any picks for which the teams had traded. Immediately prior to the dispersal draft, teams due allocations for the 2002 season will participate in an allocation draft and may select any one player/pick on the dispersal draft list per allocation.