Baseball hasn't added any teams lately. Basketball has contracted. Football has remained the same. Only Major League Soccer is continuing to add teams. MLS is looking to expand to St. Louis and one other city by 2009, which should give the sport even more national exposure. That would raise the total of the teams to 18 in the MLS. Seven other cities have expressed interest in hosting a new team: Atlanta, Las Vegas, Montreal, a second team in the N.Y. area, Ottawa, Portland and Vancouver.
When a sport starts to expand, it's a sign that the owners are optimistic about its prospects to reach a wider market. Of course, some leagues have seen problems from expanding too fast. The way to get around this is to try to use existing arenas as much as possible. New arenas are very expensive to build and maintain, and it's not always easy to estimate whether or not crowds will come by to fill them on a regular basis - particularly with a love-it-or-hate-it sport such as soccer.
The decisions will be made in the first quarter of 2009 or in very late 2008. Wherever the teams go, they will get the benefit of a heightening level of competition within the MLS and a higher viewership within the US. The teams should start competing by around 2011, so long as everything goes according to the plan. It often takes a while for an expansion team to gain credibility with fans.
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However, the league will need to work hard to not only keep the momentum it has so far created but to expand upon it and grow domestic interest in the sport. It seems to me that ultimate success will be dependent on 1) raising the level of play beyond the current 2 or 3 international-caliber players per team 2) raising the interest level of American viewers 3) finding a way to retain the best rising American players. Not surprisingly each of these will generate revenue -- but is itself dependent on capital to be accomplished.
There may be something to the league encouraging their teams to sign talent that has natural interest to their locale, eg Hispanic players who play for Chivas or UCLA players for the Galaxy.
David Beckham's place on the Galaxy truly has had a large impact, wherever they play. Perhaps this old NASL approach, working so well with Beckham, is the best way to quickly make further impact. They must remember that what Beckham has brought is unique even beyond his considerable talents on the field. If Ronaldo and other high profile players of personal notoriety are enticed here, there may be a significant acceleration of interest from our celebrity-inclined public.
Then the teams can concentrate on even the less colorful but highly skilled players...