MLS Expansion Contracts

I know lots of people consider MLS a joke, and this most recent fiasco gives them more fuel for the fire. Way back in April of this year, MLS announced their expansion into San Antonio, Texas for the 2006 season. Earlier this week they announced that the San Antonio deal fell apart and would not be reconsidered. In a sign that they are serious, I searched the MLS website and looked for "San Antonio," and while there were a few hits for this particular phrase there was nothing related to either April's announcement or this week's withdrawal. I heard their webmaster is this dude, but that may not be true. The real question becomes where will MLS go next. Toronto is a lock, but they need 2 teams to keep the league balanced. I initially read this story on the MLS website (although they've since revised history) and there was a list of possible cities (Toronto, Philadelphia, Houston, Rochester, Seattle, St. Louis, and maybe a few more). Like I said Toronto is a lock, but I'm not too sure where else they might go. When the San Antonio expansion was announced in April, I was watching an MLS game on ESPN2 and Eric Wynalda was claiming Rochester, NY had the greatest fans in the country and deserved an expansion team. I can neither confirm nor deny the statement about the fans (although I am going to the Barlow family reunion in Rochester this summer and I want to be loved there so it's probably true), but they did make the short list of possible cities. If you believe that Toronto will get a team (who else are you going to listen to about MLS? I'm telling you it will happen by 2007), then I'm not sure if that helps or hurts Rochester. All of the positives Rochester has are still there even if there is a team nearby in Toronto. Look at these photos of the soccer specific stadium they are building for their A-League team. MLS has failed to be profitable in stadiums that are built for the NFL. A dedicated soccer stadium is a big improvement over playing in the Alamodome. Still, I'm thinking Seattle might be the big winner.