MLS To Nashville: League Sets Expansion Timeline

NASHVILLE, TN — Music City will know in a month or so if Major League Soccer is coming to town.

MLS' Board of Governors is scheduled to meet in New York City December 14 to determine the two cities to be awarded expansion franchises, with formal announcements likely between December 18 and 21.

The Tennessean confirmed that timeline with the league office.

Nashville is widely regarded as one of two front-runners to join the league in 2020, along with Sacramento. Of the dozen cities vying for expansion teams, the capitals of Tennessee and California are the only ones with plans for soccer-specific stadia in place.

Despite misgivings, particularly about giving the team's ownership — which includes John Ingram, the scion of one of the city's richest families, along with the Dollar General and MarketStreet Enterprises-founding Turner family and the Wilf family, which owns the NFL's Minnesota Vikings — 10 free acres of city-owned land near the stadium for a multi-use project, the Metro Council overwhelmingly approved a crucial part of the financing plan for the stadium earlier this month.

The league plans to announce two more teams for a second round of expansion some time in 2018.

Watch Now: MLS Sets Expansion Timeline, Nashville A Frontrunner

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