MLS says no to Las Vegas

Nov 1, 2014; Columbus, OH, USA; Balls set up next to the MLS playoff logo on the sideline ready for the pregame between the Columbus Crew and the New England Revolution at Crew Stadium. Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

MLS expansion won’t include Vegas

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Maybe it’s because what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, and MLS needs people to remember that it’s a league?

Whatever the reason, Major League Soccer has declined Las Vegas as a potential expansion site. MLS commissioner Don Garber sent Las Vegas mayor Carolyn Goodman a letter explaining the decision. The letter reads as follows:

"Dear Mayor Goodman,I want to truly thank you for your efforts to bring an MLS expansion club to Las Vegas. We deeply appreciate all of the work that you and your City Council members have done to support the development of a soccer stadium in your downtown.Unfortunately, given the timing of our expansion rollout and the uncertainty as to when we might be able to move forward in Las Vegas, we are no longer considering Las Vegas as an expansion market until after 2018.We have truly enjoyed working with you, your office and the Findlay and Cordish groups. We would look forward to revisiting this in the future and believe that given the right circumstances, Las Vegas would be a vibrant and successful market for an MLS expansion club.Sincerely,Don Garber"

If that letter looks familiar to you, it should; if you’ve received a letter or email from a job you applied for letting you know you haven’t been chosen for the position, you’ve seen this before. It’s totally the job application denial letter! I didn’t know they sent them to cities! Right now, the whole city is thinking “if only I had just updated my resume!” or “I don’t need them anyway!” or “at least they had the decency to reply.” We’ve all been there, Las Vegas. We know your pain.

Las Vegas City Council voted to approve a soccer stadium this past December, but it wasn’t enough for the city, which has never hosted a major professional sports team, to win an expansion bid from the growing soccer league.

MLS plans to expand to 24 teams by 2020, and have already announced four of the six expansion teams they need, which will be located in New York, Orlando, Los Angeles, and Atlanta. That leaves two more spots that need to be filled, and the last reports had Minneapolis and Sacramento as finalists along with Vegas.

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