Two expansion slots open in MLS

The 2011 Major League Soccer season might seem far in the distance, but it's less than two and a half years away. Two cities will be chosen to join MLS by 2011 and the path to selecting those two cities is going to hold the attention of soccer fans in every current and potentially future MLS market for the next two months.

Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank, who made his fortune co-founding Home Depot, has the sports marketing savvy and local pull that has MLS believing he could cultivate a burgeoning soccer market. And why wouldn't the MLS be interested in an NFL team's owner, I mean they only makes millions upon millions a year. But the thing working against Atlanta is that they really have not worked out good locations for a stadium.

You could say Miami might a little chance of placing a bid. Why do you ask? Having a billionaire backing the bid isn't enough on its own to make Miami a strong contender. But combine billionaire Marcelo Claure with the international pull of Spanish powerhouse FC Barcelona, and you suddenly have a bid MLS must take seriously. Hmm, FC Barecelona you say? Yeah I am in on this one.

Next on the list is Montreal, who is most likely a front runner in one of the two bids. Montreal boasts rich owners, an established soccer fan base, an existing infrastructure courtesy of a successful USL team and, perhaps most importantly, an existing stadium that can be increased in size.

Portland has a fair shot at one of the bids. While other candidates are leaning on billionaires and innovative stadium plans, the Portland bid is leaning heavily on its most impressive asset: the city's rabid soccer fans. There is little arguing that the USL Portland Timbers boast one of the strongest fan bases in North America, and its established rivalry with incoming MLS expansion team Seattle Sounders FC has the Rose City looking like an easy call.

Last but least is St. Louis. You have to feel for the soccer fans in St. Louis, who must be completely perplexed by how a city with so much soccer history and such a reputation for supporting the sport hasn't already joined the MLS. The simple answer is money. It's unclear whether there is a prospective owner with sufficient financial backing to not just bring MLS to St. Louis, but help an MLS team succeed there.