Commissioner Don Garber has indicated that MLS will make a decision on whether or not to add Las Vegas as the league’s 30th team before the end of the month.
Wes Edens and Nassef Sawiris, co-owners of Aston Villa, are leading the charge to become Las Vegas the league’s newest expansion team
Wes Edens, a wealthy private equity investor and co-owner of the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks, has already laid out his plans to have the MLS team compete by 2026, just in time for the World Cup to be contested in the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
Although Las Vegas is widely seen as the favorite to land an MLS club, Commissioner Garber emphasizes that some aspects must still be worked out before any official announcement can be made.
“We expect to finalize something in the first third of the year,” Garber added, “which will give us many, many years before that club is released.”
“Expansion negotiations are complicated in any market, but especially in a market that requires, in this case, a soccer-specific stadium, you have to make sure that everything is aligned in the neighborhood, everything is connected with creating a fan base, and everything is aligned politically,” he says.
“I couldn’t be more pleased to work with Wes Edens,” Garber added.
Charlotte FC will join the league as an expansion team this season, with St. Louis City SC following in 2023.
Then, by 2026, we could see the Las Vegas Villains join the Major League Soccer (MLS), a league that was patented by Villa’s owners years ago.
“Huge enough to feel like you’re in a home game, but small enough to feel intimate and like you’re a big part of the game and on the pitch.” We haven’t finalized stadium plans yet, but I expect it to be in that price range.