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Indianapolis pushing forward with Major League Soccer, no expansion bid yet

Major League Soccer answers expansion questions

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Indianapolis is not getting a Major League Soccer team just yet, but officials are still working to attract an MLS expansion team to the Circle City.

Major League Soccer invited Mayor Joe Hogsett and his Chief of Staff, Dan Parker, to the league’s All Start Week to discuss an expansion bid.

Ultimately, the league commissioner, Don Garber, said MLS will not be offering an expansion bid to a new team in the near future. He did not provide a timeline on when they would consider giving out an expansion bid.

There are currently 30 teams in the league. The two most recent teams to join the league are in St. Louis and San Deigo.

“Right now, there isn’t a plan to expand,” Garber said. “Right now, many of you may have seen the Mayor of Indianapolis who was here over the last couple of days. If there is a good market for us to expand in, if that market makes sense, if we have the right owner and the right stadium plan we would consider strongly expanding past 30 teams.”

Park said the city is poised to take on an MLS team.

“Indianapolis has a sports economy,” Parker said. “Pacers, Colts, Fever. Just think about all the people that would come to games and frequent all the amenities we have downtown.”

The league said there are requirements including a stadium plan.

The city recently sent off a plan to create a special stadium tax district for the state. This would help fund a potential stadium if an expansion bid is offered.

“You need some work from the community, both the business and the political community, you need to have a proper stadium plan and you need to have an ownership group that believes in MLS,” Garber said.

A potential Indianapolis soccer stadium has not been designed yet. Parker said if the city builds an MLS stadium, it would need to be at least 20,000-25,000 seats.