In a country like the USA , where American football and basketball dominate, soccer is having a hard time asserting itself. But American soccer has steadily grown in importance in recent years. However, the slow rise of the MLS has so far not come without a price.
One could speak of growing pains here. All the more interesting, therefore, is the news that MLS President Mark Abbott is planning further expansion and wants to take American football to the next level. What’s it all about For over a year, Austin FC struggled to get closer to their dream of playing in the Major League Soccer.
It had been a back and forth, at which there were meetings between the MLS, the club and representatives of the city council. In addition, there was the active commitment of the fan group of the Texan club, which had started a lively discussion on social media such as Facebook.
One of the last hurdles had been the location of the stadium and organizing tasks. European Soccer championships described at Hold ved EM 2020, have paved the way for the US counterpart, and all the bureaucratic barriers were overcome and on September 9th, MLS President Mark Abbot, Austin FC CEO Anthony Precourt and Mayor Steve Adler came together to break the first sod.
The cost of the stadium will be around $ 242 million and the building is slated to open in April 2021. So far, two Texan clubs are already represented in the MLS Western Conference, namely FC Dallas and Houston Dynamo. Both clubs are currently less successful and are in the lower half of the table.
However, FC Dallas has been struggling to get into the play-offs so far, but it will be an uphill battle. The expansion of the league with Austin FC will therefore only be good for Texan football. It also fills an important void as Austin has some potential as the capital of the US state, let alone the zeal of the new squad.
The 2022 World Cup could also contribute to the popularity of football in the USA. After all, according to online football betting with Betfair , the country is in the same favorite place as Sweden with odds of 61.00 on the win. And the latter team at least made it to the quarter-finals of the World Cup in 2018.
Austin is a place full of economic dynamism and an ambitious young population. These are precisely the basic requirements that MLS President Abbot had mentioned in order to be able to expand in the markets. Austin is not the only candidate. In 2020, Inter Miami and Nashville FC will be added and in 2022 St. Louis will be the newest contender on the expansion list, making it the 28th team to play in the MLS, according to Ran.de.
What about the league itself?
The league is to be expanded further to 30 clubs and currently some candidates are already applying for the last two league positions. Sacramento has been the favorite for the 29th club so far, while last place is particularly controversial and at least five clubs are actively competing, including Las Vegas. So the future of MLS looks bright and the expansion will bring football closer to more Americans. This could certainly only be reinforced by an international success of the men’s national team. Interest in football grew even after the quarter-finals in 2002 and helped the MLS to be more successful. It remains to be seen what else the future will bring.
