COLUMBUS – Amid rapid growth on and off the field, San Diego FC will formally become Major League Soccer’s 30th team when the 2025 season begins. But will the league stop there?
MLS Commissioner Don Garber has left the door open, specifically regarding early and ongoing discussions with Indianapolis, Indiana.
“[San Diego] is going to be the end of expansion for a period of time until we're ready to expand again,” Garber said Wednesday evening before the 2024 MLS All-Star Game presented by Target.
“So right now there isn't a specific plan to expand, but I know many of you might have seen the Mayor of Indianapolis was here over the last couple of days. If there's a good market for us to expand in and that market makes sense with the right owner and the right stadium plan, I think like any league, we would strongly consider expanding beyond the 30 teams that we have now.”
MLS already has a sizable Midwest footprint, including the Columbus Crew vs. FC Cincinnati rivalry and the Sporting Kansas City vs. St. Louis CITY SC rivalry. Chicago Fire FC and Minnesota United FC further strengthen the league’s presence in America’s heartland.
And while nothing is imminent, Indianapolis is certainly on the MLS radar.
“There is no specific timing in place,” Garber said from Lower.com Field, the epicenter of All-Star Week festivities. “Mayor [Joe] Hogsett was at one of our events last night. He came to New York and met with us in the league office.
“The folks at the state and other people around the city are very bullish about an MLS team in Indianapolis. But we've done this a lot. We've expanded about 20 teams in the last 25 years, so we understand how to manage this process. We love the city, we love the support from city leaders and the state. We think there's an interesting ownership dynamic. We like the location they're talking about with a stadium. We'll continue to work with them and see how it plays out.”
If MLS comes to Indianapolis, Garber outlined elements proven to create longstanding success. The project also has some MLS know-how, with former Charlotte FC and New York City FC executive Tom Glick heavily involved.
“You need a great stadium project, you need support from the community – both the business, but also the political community,” Garber said. “You need to have a proper stadium plan and you need to have an ownership group that really believes in Major League Soccer and what it can do for a city.
“Those elements are the elements that are being worked on now. This is relatively new and it's early in the process, but we're encouraged and excited about the discussions that we've had going on.”
This all occurs in the backdrop of soccer’s exciting trajectory across North America – both at club and international levels. And Garber believes in MLS, large cities and smaller-profile markets can thrive all the same.
“The smaller markets in Major League Soccer have been disproportionately successful,” Garber said. “I think Salt Lake is an example of that. I think Columbus is an example of that, Cincinnati's an example of that. That's what you want.
“When sports leagues were founded, they had this idea that you've got to protect the small markets from the big markets. I think you see that in many other major leagues. That's not what we have in Major League Soccer. You've just got to get it right. You have to connect all the dots between your players, your fans, your stadium, your community and you've got to really understand the game. If you do that, you put a winning team on the field, people will come out.”
