St. Louis and Sacramento, California, have been invited to submit formal bids for franchises as Major League Soccer’s Board of Governors formally unveiled plans Thursday to expand to 30 teams. The board did not identify markets that would receive teams but groups in Sacramento and St. Louis were allowed to make formal presentations to the league’s expansion committee. MLS has set an expansion fee of $200 million for the league’s 28th and 29th teams. Sacramento’s hopes of landing a team were boosted in January when billionaire Ron Burkle became the new lead investor in the Sacramento Republic soccer team. The St. Louis group includes World Wide Technology CEO Jim Kavanaugh and the Taylor family, owners of the rental car company Enterprise Holdings.

Source: National Post April 18, 2019 23:26 UTC