Major League Soccer has expanded several times since the league began play in 1996. Major League Soccer was established as the top level of professional soccer in the United States in 1993 with 10 teams and began play in 1996. It has expanded several times since 1998 into new markets across the United States and, since 2006, Canada.
St. Louis City SC is the 29th MLS team and the most recent expansion team, having joined the league for the 2023 season. The league plans to expand to 30 teams in 2025 with the debut of San Diego FC[1][2][3][4] and may expand to 32 teams at a later date.[5][6] Expanding and establishing a larger national reach is seen as essential to securing television rights fees needed to reach MLS's initially stated goal of becoming one of the top leagues in the world by 2022.[7]
In 2013, New York City FC agreed to pay a record $100 million expansion fee for the right to join MLS in 2015.[8] This record was surpassed by the ownership groups of FC Cincinnati and Nashville SC, which each paid $150 million to join MLS (FC Cincinnati in 2019 and Nashville in 2020).[8][a] The same amount was paid as an effective entrance fee by a group that bought Columbus Crew SC in 2018, which led to that team's previous operator receiving a new team in Austin, Texas, that joined MLS in April 2021.[10][11] Before Sacramento's group withdrew its franchise acquisition, MLS also announced that the ownership groups of the 28th and 29th teams would each pay a $200 million entrance fee and that of the 30th had to pay $325 million.[12]
Major League Soccer considers several criteria when determining where to award expansion franchises:
- Owners that are committed to MLS and have the financial wherewithal to invest in a team
- A stadium or approved plans for a stadium (preferably a soccer-specific stadium) that allows the team to control revenue streams such as parking and concessions
- The size of the market of the metropolitan area
- An established local fan base.[13][14]
| Season | No. of teams |
|---|---|
| 1996 | 10 |
| 1997 | |
| 1998 | 12 |
| 1999 | |
| 2000 | |
| 2001 | |
| 2002 | 10 |
| 2003 | |
| 2004 | |
| 2005 | 12 |
| 2006 | |
| 2007 | 13 |
| 2008 | 14 |
| 2009 | 15 |
| 2010 | 16 |
| 2011 | 18 |
| 2012 | 19 |
| 2013 | |
| 2014 | |
| 2015 | 20 |
| 2016 | |
| 2017 | 22 |
| 2018 | 23 |
| 2019 | 24 |
| 2020 | 26 |
| 2021 | 27 |
| 2022 | 28 |
| 2023 | 29 |
| 2024 | |
| 2025 | 30 |
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
san-diego-2025was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "MLS announces plans to expand to 30 teams". MLSsoccer.com. April 18, 2019. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
- ^ Young, Jabari (July 17, 2020). "Major League Soccer to delay debuts of 3 expansion franchises due to coronavirus". CNBC. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
- ^ Carlisle, Jeff (February 26, 2021). "Sacramento MLS team on indefinite hold after investor pulls out of deal". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
- ^ "Garber says MLS will stick at 32 teams as he headlines Soccerex USA opening day". Inside World Football. November 22, 2019. Retrieved December 7, 2019.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
2023updatewas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Straus, Brian (April 16, 2014). "With Atlanta on board, MLS shows there's no one-size-fits-all expansion criteria". Sports Illustrated. Planet Fútbol.
- ^ a b Savino, Christopher. "NYCFC More About Major League Soccer Than New York". Business of Soccer. Retrieved May 14, 2015.
- ^ "MLS announces David Beckham's expansion team in Miami". ESPN. January 29, 2018. Retrieved February 1, 2018.
- ^ Bench, Emily (December 6, 2018). "Columbus Crew's proposed buyers pledging $645M total investment". Columbus Business First. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
- ^ Salazar, Daniel (December 19, 2018). "Austin and PSV finalize soccer stadium deal; MLS team likely to kick off in 2021". Austin Business Journal. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
- ^ Settimi, Christina (July 17, 2020). "MLS Expansion Teams In Charlotte, Sacramento And St. Louis Have To Wait Another Year To Play". Forbes. Retrieved July 8, 2022.
- ^ Ziegler, Mark (August 3, 2010). "Piecing the puzzle of MLS expansion picture here". U-T San Diego.
- ^ Hakala, Josh (June 7, 2011). "With eyes on Detroit, Silverdome owners submit Major League Soccer expansion bid". MLive.com.
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